the-grahams-scrollerIt’s a bit of a thing at the moment, the ‘live in the studio’ album, and why not? If you’re good enough and the engineer’s good enough, you’ll have the satisfaction of creating something the way we did in the good old days before that pesky Les Paul invented multi-track recording. And with a bit of luck it might capture a bit of magic that would be lost in a song built up part by part. The Grahams have taken a slightly different direction with the concept; they’ve taken a bunch of songs from their “Glory Bound” album/“Rattle the Hocks” film project and re-recorded them in the studio with some friends, taking the opportunity to rearrange and rework the songs (sometimes more than once). And those friends: well, John Fullbright, North Mississippi Allstars, Alvin Youngblood Hart and David Garza are a pretty good start.

The songs from this collection have already featured on two US albums by The Grahams, but none have been released in the UK in these versions, and I hope you all got that, because I’m not repeating it. Does the idea work? Well, mostly. “Glory Bound” is the obvious opener for the album, introducing the theme of the railroad with its ‘clickety-clack of the train on the tracks’ rhythm, stripped-back acoustic guitar, bass and drums arrangement and harmonies imitating a train whistle. Most of the original “Glory Bound” songs are reworked on this album, with the notable exception of “The Wild One” (for my money the best song on the album) and the gradual build-up of the beautiful ballad “Lay Down” to a massed choir ending, the gospel treatment of “Mama” and the counterpoint vocals at the end of “Blow Wind Blow” are all particularly effective.

The supernatural ballad “Tender Annabelle” comes in a couple of different flavours, first with a mournful, menacing harmonica, electric piano and heavily-reverbed backing vocals, then with New Orleans horns to close the album. There’s a lot to be said for each treatment, although the first appearance of the horns on the rollicking “Kansas City” seems to lack a bit of punch.

Minor quibbles aside, this is an album that’s worth listening to whether you’ve heard “Glory Bound” or not. The songs are powerful however you arrange them, and the live recording process catches some genuine moments of magic.

“The Grahams and Friends (Live in Studio)” is released in the UK on Three Sirens Music Group on Friday January 27th 2017.

Alyssa Graham TitleSo, what happens when you get to The 100 Club just as the doors open for a private event on a Sunday evening? Well, the obvious answer is, not a lot, so plenty of time to check out how the stage set-up looks and work out the best photo angles for later. When that’s done, there are still only four people in the place, so what next? Right, ask the sound engineer about the programme for the night; apparently The Grahams (the band I’ve come to see) are going on at 9:30. Is there a support band, don’t know mate. Oh well, time for another bottle of lager then.

Then, out of nowhere, the door opens and what is unmistakably a bunch of musicians walks in; the instrument cases are always a giveaway. After about half an hour of intensive roadying and oneing and twoing, we have ignition. None of this leaving the stage and coming back to make an entrance; a quick line check on the vocal mics and its 1-2-3-4.

Surprisingly, after all the last minute preparation, The Orange Circus Band was pretty good, playing hillbilly Americana with a constantly changing instrumental line-up featuring bass, acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin and fiddle and featuring a bit of the almost obligatory Woody Guthrie. They finished with the lovely four-part harmonies of the gospel song “I’ll Fly Away” and everyone was happy, but I can’t help wondering how much better they could have sounded, with a full-on soundcheck.

No such problems for The Grahams; they soundchecked before the venue opened and blasted straight into the set with “Griggstown” from the new album, “Glory Bound”. Although Doug and Alyssa Graham’s second album was released this week in the UK, this gig was about the short documentary, “Rattle the Hocks”, made at the same time, about the influence of the railways on the growth of Americana music, which is showing at Raindance Film Festival. Although the album versions of the songs feature full band arrangements, the songs are so good that they all work with two guitars, two voices and a bit of percussion. The set featured mainly material from “Glory Bound” including “Kansas City”, the folky and personal “Blow Wind Blow”, the album’s closing song, “The Promised Land”, “Tender Annabelle” from the bonus tracks and the double entendre-laden “Biscuits”. All of those were delivered with style and panache, but there were also a few very special moments.

About halfway through the set, the first highlight was the gospel-tinged and deeply personal “Mama”, which was the first really emotional moment, followed fairly quickly by “The Wild One”, which is a standout track from the album. It’s a tragic coming-of-age story with a huge uplifting chorus and it’s a single if I ever heard one. It’s gorgeous. “Lay Me Down” was another album high point which translated perfectly to a more stripped-down format and had Alyssa shifting from her pure and clear country tones to something much more like Alanis Morissette or eighties Marianne Faithfull. Which just left “Glory Bound”, inspired by Woody Guthrie’s “The Farmer-Labor Train” as the unplugged encore and a final lovely moment.

Seeing The Grahams live was quite an experience. Doug and Alyssa built a warm rapport with the audience by talking about the film, the album and their relationship, emphasised by their obvious onstage chemistry. The songs are intensely personal and are delivered with passion, power and beautiful harmonies; by the end of a gig, you’ll feel elated but wrung-out. If you missed this one you can catch them on their UK tour in November.

The Grahams - 'Glory Bound' - TitleMaybe this is a reappraisal that’s long overdue. We live in a society that’s so dominated by the car and its implications of individualism that we now have a long tradition of road and car songs and there’s even a drive-time genre. The railroads in the USA, which featured so heavily in popular culture during the nineteenth century have now been largely replaced by the highways. That is, until Americana duo The Grahams (Alyssa and Doug) decided to ride the rails and re-evaluate the role played by the network in stitching together the tapestry of American music. The time they spent on this project led not only to their second album, the marvellously eclectic “Glory Bound”, but also a documentary film, “Rattle the Hocks”, which is featured at the UK 2015 Raindance film festival.

The album opens with the title track, easing in with acoustic guitar before a ridiculously catchy guitar hook comes in to drive the song forward (along with a huge backbeat in the chorus) with a train-evoking rhythm, which is then followed by the equally raucous Southern boogie shuffle of “Gambling Girl”. Both songs feature Alyssa’s rock voice, but as the album progresses it becomes clear that she can work in a whole range of vocal styles, from the raw emotion in the chorus of “Lay Me Down” to the high, clear flute-like tones of “The Spinner”; it’s quite a set of vocal performances. There’s a wide variety of Americana styles from the folk song feel of the elegaic “Blow Wind Blow” to the bluegrass-styled “Kansas City”, which is short, sharp and sweet but packs everything in including sparkling guitar and fiddle solos and the simple spiritual sound of “Mama”.

The big backbeat reasserts itself on “Griggstown” and the closing song “The Promised Land”, driving the first song on to its destination and the second on a seemingly futile quest while “Biscuits” has a honky-tonk feel and a nice line in double entendre lyrics; all good clean fun. Which leaves “The Wild One”; it’s placed right in the centre of the album and this has to be the single, lead track or whatever radio’s calling it this week. From the moment the organ kicks in you know this is pure musical gold (with a nod in the direction of The Band) as the arrangement complements the tragic but ultimately uplifting story which unfolds. Everything about the structure of the song helps to emphasise the message, including a chorus which is absolutely irresistible; there’s even a “Running on Empty” reference in the first line, unless it’s a huge coincidence. There’s nothing about this song that you would ever want to change.

“Glory Bound” is a great album and it’s made for people who actually want to listen to albums. It has a theme, it starts and finishes on railroad songs, visits places with railroad connections and places an absolute gem of a song right in the centre of the collection. This is one train you really don’t want to miss.

Out on Friday October 2 on 12South Records (GRAM003).