Totally Biased Fan Review: Gone, Tired and Blue – Leon Majcen EEP

There’s not a lot of information available on Leon. He has an album coming out in May, so we may find out more info then.

What I do know is that he has spent a lot of time in Florida and New York and he is a devotee of Dylan, Prine, Van Zandt and Parsons. As you can see by his name, they didn’t get him to change it. Bob and John Denver changed their names, but the times dictated that.

As soon as his mouth opens, you can hear Prine.

His background is Bosnian, so his country music back story is not the usual one.

His Alt Country/Americana style is easy going and deep at the same time. The melodies are very relaxing, the stories are a bit more complex.

The stories are very American, in their earthiest context. For a person whose family has been through so much, he has grasped a lot of what the real America is about. At the same time, he could be singing about a lot of countries who have opened their hearts to others.

They are not soppy, sentimental songs. There is a sensitivity about them and they are heartfelt but they are far from pedestrian or cliched.

I look forward to hearing more.

Totally Biased Fan Review: Kentucky Blue Grassed – Brit Taylor EEP

1. Anything But You

2. Rich Little Girls

3. No Cowboys

4. Married

5. Church Bus

6. Kentucky Blue

7. Saint Anthony

8. If You Don’t Wanna Love Me

This is an interesting project. A year ago, Brit released an album – Kentucky Blue which was produced by one of country music’s finest, Sturgill Simpson.

Taylor has taken 5 tracks from that album and 3 new tracks to re-imagine them into a bluegrass album. This time around, her husband, Adam Chaffins, a bluegrasser, has taken over the producing job.

Although bluegrass is in her genes and she professes that it was inevitable, she never considered herself a bluegrass gal.

It seems that she is a natural. The success of her album did not necessitate this ‘reconditioned’ venture but it is an intriguing experiment.

Bluegrass and country music have become kissing cousins, after acknowledging each other for years with a quiet nod but not admitting freely in public that they were related.

While country has expanded into 94 types (including bluegrass), bluegrass has tried to stand alone and stick to a purely traditional vibe. There was a trend towards newgrass a few years ago, but mama bluegrass has discretely taken that under her wing and they have worked out a truce and a compromise.

Brit seems to have embraced country and bluegrass and her style is unquestionably traditional, no matter what camp that she pitches her tent in.

I think the feud, once likened to that of the Hatfields and McCoys, has been resolved with the genres uniting to fight a bigger fight – to honour traditional music over Johnny come lately types.

There’s an interesting union between torch and twang, three chords and the truth and picking and mountain music here.

I can detect a bit of the mission and sound that Australia’s own Bluegrass Queen, Kristy Cox, has taken on.

Both gals can lean either way and in the end, good music is good music.

Brit Taylor can sing up a storm. She has a fine crew here to help her out and the band play like a well oiled machine but they are not over done, there is a relaxed, playful feel to this EEP (more than 4 tracks, less than 10).

I encourage you to open your ears, eyes and hearts to this artist and this album. It is pretty speccy.