CLASSIC COUNTRY
“BarnBurner”
Orville Davis
Fountainbleu
Sure, this is a huge country filled with millions of people, but we are still amazed at the amount of local musicians who rarely get past playing a single region of the U.S.
Davis is an example.
He has toured the country as a backup player and sung in a slew of television commercials. However, the New York-based singer-songwriter’s honky-tonk tinged country is hardly known outside the East Coast.
Let’s hope that “BarnBurner” ignites a Davis fire around the country. His writing, singing and picking deserve a large audience.
– Ed Will
FOLK ROCK
“Jackets for the Trip”
Uphollow
Hill Billy Stew Records
A criticism local music hounds will never levy against these cello rockers is that they’re lazy or complacent. After three ambitious full-length CDs, including a 40-minute rock opera, this quartet fronted by travel-minded guitar player Ian O’Dougherty has composed a 12-track offering that dances between Brit-pop and experimental rock using introspective lyrics and unexpected instrumentation.
The opening track, “Monster,” one of the first songs penned after the band’s equipment was stolen from the back of a van in Capitol Hill, presents the cello in a more classical framework than some of the other rock groups incorporating strings into their soundscape. Subtle guitar work and drumming make this and several songs on the CD work.
“People,” a track about the kookie cast of characters who offer unsolicited advice to musicians, starts out chaotically but reveals itself to be a layered, hard-to-classify composition. “Long, the Road” should find an easy audience among Beatles fans, and “This First” includes stripped-down sound effects that keep the listener guessing about what Uphollow is all about.
Uphollow officially releases “Jackets for the Trip” Sept. 24 at the Bluebird Theatre during a show with Porlolo and The Clap that will include two sets by the headliner and video production of the DVD imagery available on this album.
– Elana Ashanti Jefferson
