GARY CORNELIUS : FEATHER (One Man Clapping 0003)

Having taken 47 years to record his first disc Mending Fences it took a relatively short time to come up with the follow up Feather. Cut from the same cloth as the first with almost identical producers and musicians it presents a fitting sequel. Again the production of Ken Abeling brings out the folk-country backing for Cornelius’s baritone beautifully. The confidence of his singing has grown and become soulful in the sense of  Southern Soul Balladeers. A stand-out track like In The Flood Land which documents the Manitoba floods as a fiddle and steel draped hymnal is writing of a very high order and bears comparison with Tom Russell, Chip Taylor and  Peter Rowan. Another master is affectionately remembered in Goodbye Townes and his ghost seems to pervade the disc.A Tender Heart is like a Louvin Brothers out-take whilst Snow and Bayou Morning recall artists such as Bruce Cockburn and John Prine. Sometimes the air of cosiness can become almost cloying but at its best as here on Angels in the Air the fine balance betweee sentimentality and true lyricism is mastered and the effect is truly magical.
 

CHRIS BUHALIS : KENAI DREAMS (One Man Clapping 0008)

The ghost of Townes Van Zandt can be heard in the charming laid back dobro and acoustic bass playing behind Buhalis long before his actual voice kicks in like a guardian angel. One of the great man's last projects it is fitting that he should somehow be handing on to the younger Buhalis. He's a fitting recipient with a cover of Blaze Foley ( Clay Pidgeon ) and an obvious love and knowledge of the older man's Texas songwriting roots. There are also nods on this record to Woody Guthrie and Bruce Springsteen - Employee 1209 - as well as songs that fit into a more general folk tradition. At times the allusions win out as on Highway Shoes and at times the vocal imitates the younger Townes to an uncomfortable degree but the perfect backing ususally wins the day and one can forgive the slips in the lyric department. The voice is there and with a little time I'm sure he'll develop the classic set that's obviously in him. As he says on Employee 1209 -'there's some people who will fake...'. Judging by the talent already diplayed here he's obviously not faking and I await his next disc with genuine anticipation.

(OMC 0018)

Already making waves in the States and creeping onto playlists over here Doug Hoekstra- 'the godfather of narrative folk?'- has self-released a couple of discs before coming up trumps with this set on OMC. His most assured record to date fully justifies the plaudits it has been receiving from reviewers who seem to place him squarely in the Dylan/Cohen and Reed tradition -all troubadours with a literary bent. Mostly it is the Reed-isms that are commented on but there are added dimensions to this transplanted Chicagoan who is now resident in Nashville. He has had several short stories published and counts D.H.Lawrence and W.B.Yeats as big an influence as the aforementioned folk/rock godfathers. Previous disc Rickety Stairs which received Best Folk Album nomination in Nashville contained a wonderful narrative track The List which has an equally impressive counterpart on this disc in My Father's Town. A mandolin chimes behind a whispered vocal - sort of Micky Newbury meets Dylan. Kirkwood Hotel sets a bleak tale across an ethereal backing whilst Sam Cooke Sang the Gospel really could have come off a Paul Simon or Randy Newman lp so well does it evoke an era with its 'Hi in the seventies' backing. With his eclectic influences and production experimentalism this disc could have ended up an unholy mess but he keeps a firm hand on the tiller and the ship sails beautifully. What he has produced is a formidable, seminal disc which shows a way forward at a time when the sheer weight of singer-songwriter discs being released suggests a paucity of ideas. There is a cinematic scope to his storytelling in song that repays repeated listening and delving into like a good book. Indeed this set holds together like a well planned set of short stories and how many songwriters refer to D.H.Lawrence or W.B.Yeats in their songs! Sailing on.....all the way to Byzantium.