A baker's dozen of the top NMFOF albums of 2019
It’s been a bit of the slow year here at NMFOF headquarters — not so much slow as distracted. My wife, Stacy, and I moved in 2019 from Columbus, Ohio, to Richmond Virginia. We love the new digs, but the house in Columbus didn’t sell quite as quickly as we’d imagined. Needless to say, paying two mortgages for five months can be a little stressful. It tends to put other things on the back burner. Well, the house is sold now, and I intend to get back to this little hobby.
So, to make a long story short (I know, too late), I will be putting this list together for the fifth time (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018). First the rules. I limit the list to just artists that have been profiled on the site. The point of the site is that we old folk should make an attempt to broaden our musical horizons and not limit ourselves to the same music we’ve been listening to for the last 25 years. As a result, this an intentionally eclectic and, at times, obscure list of music from 2019.
I have made an attempt to make the list not too Blues-heavy. I would say the majority of the live shows I see every year fall into this category. But that probably has more to do with venue considerations than anything else. We’ve found a little club in Richmond that brings in some pretty good Blues bands a couple of times a month and then there are the cruises.
The two-mortgage issue forced the cancellation of what had become an annual tradition for Stacy and me. We should be preparing right now to go on the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise that departs at the end of the month. We didn’t so much cancel the trip as postpone it. Unfortunately, they really don’t really let you postpone a cruise if you need to save up a little more money. You’re either ready when they are or you’re not. Fortunately, however, the LRBC people do two cruises per year, and we’re going to go in October instead. So we hope to see the friends we’ve made on February cruises then. The tentative plan is to go back to February's cruise in 2022.
Anyway, I have to resist the temptation to make the list all about the Blues. The other temptation is to become a slave to the format of a top 10 list. I started to pare down the list to my favorites for the year and got down to 13 and decided I didn’t want to cut it any further. These year-end lists are arbitrary and mine, given the “only artists I’ve profiled” limitation, is more so than most. Besides, these are the ones I wanted to let people know about, so those are the ones I’ll write about.
1: AMERICAN LOVE SONG, Ryan Bingham — I tipped my hand earlier in the year when I wrote that this album was the leader in the clubhouse for album of the year. Bingham's albums are uniformly excellent and this one might be my favorite. Those who say such things will tell you that the album is too political, and Bingham does spend a fair amount of time bashing the infinitely bashable Trump era. But telling an artist that they should just stick to music (or movies, or painting, or even basketball) doesn't work. The best art expresses the feelings of the artist, and if that's what they're feeling that's what you should be interested in. If you don't like the politics, don't listen or watch. You can't tell an artist what they should or shouldn't produce.
This is not to say that Bingham is spending 15 songs complaining about the president. The first three songs on the album "Jingle and Go," Nothing Holds Me Down," and "Pontiac," could pass for Mick Taylor-era Rolling Stones and the fourth "Lover Girl" its a beautiful seeing a girl across the ballad.
Well, if I only knew just where to start
I'd tell you how I fell apart
Wound up in this hotel bar
Standin' here right where you are
If I could have a moment of your time
Oh, be my lover girl
The real Trump bashing doesn't start until the sixth track "Situation Station," and you have to admit he's got a point. Anyway, there's a lot more here than politics and all of it is wonderful. Bingham won on Oscar for writing the music for the Jeff Bridges movie "Crazy Heart," and has been putting out West Texas twangy Rock 'n Roll ever since. If you're going to buy only one 2019 album, this is the one. But don't stop there ...
2: BLUES IN MY BLOOD, Eric Johanson, Tiffany Pollack — Eric Johnson captures the No. 2 spot on the list for the second consecutive year. Last year it was Johanson's solo album Burn It Down. This time he's teaming with his long-lost cousin, Tiffany Pollack, on Blues in My Blood. The story is that Pollack was given up for adoption and she and Johanson didn't know they were related and both had been living for years in New Orleans. When they found each other, they were both Blues performers and the album they made together is excellent. I really like "Memories to Forget," and Pollack's vocals are great on "Keep it Simple." Johanson continues his seemingly endless tour with Tab Benoit and if you get a chance see them both. Great show, I'll miss seeing them on the boat.
3: THIS LAND, Gary Clark Jr. — If you think Ryan Bingham is too angry and political, this may not be the album for you. The first line of the tile track on Gary Clark Jr's This Land is "Paranoid and pissed off …" and the first verse goes on to talk about a neighbor "looking out your window, can't wait to call the police on me." Clark may be the best guitar player of his generation, but he wants you to know that he also has something to say. That something is that he's as American as you are, and he's tired of being treated like a second-class citizen. Take a powerful message like that and back it with impeccable guitar work, and you've got a great piece of art. One that won't be ignored.
4: STAY HUMAN VOL II, Michael Franti & Spearhead — If you need a little palette cleanser after the intensity of Gary Clark Jr., this is the place to go. Michael Franti's Stay Human Vol II is a political statement as well. But the statement is that love can overcome all of our differences. It's a 14-song endorsement of the Golden Rule. "It don't cost a dime to spend a little extra time and to throw a little smile at somebody passing by you. Love don't cost a thing, but it's worth more than any diamond ring. In this great big world, it's the little things." That's decidedly less angry, but the point is essentially the same. Treat people the way you'd like to be treated. You get what you give.
5: SIGNS, Tedeschi Trucks Band — I said in a recent Facebook post that I would listen to Susan Tedeschi sing the iPhone user agreement. While that is true, we're in luck that the incredible band that Susan and her husband, guitarist Derek Trucks, have assembled continues to put out great music and, more importantly tour the world performing their blend of Blues, Rock and Soul that really is unique in the music world right now. If you really are a music lover (and I presume if you are reading this you are) you owe it to yourself to see the Tedeschi Trucks Band live at least once. In fact they may be like Lay's potato chips and you can't do it just once. Trucks is just about the best guitarist out there right now and, backed by an 11-piece band, they put on an incomparable live show. And this album is great too.
6: BUDHA AND THE BLUES, Anders Osborne — While Clark's album begins with the words "Paranoid and pissed off," Osborne's starts "Intimate and cool." That seems to be Osborne's new vibe. He's always been cool, but the intimate part might be a new thing. Anders Osborne is an incredibly talented musician and songwriter. But he can do so many things (Jamming guitar god, Blues master, Jazz man, Folk singer songwriter), that sometimes it seems like he's trying to do all of them at the same time. On his new album, Budha and the Blues, Osborne seems to have found a balance that has produced something that is uniquely Anders Osborne. I really like "Smoke and Mirrors" and "Escape." But the title track probably captures the feeling of the album the best. It's intimate and cool.
7: KEEP ON, Southern Avenue — Including this album and the next one on the list required me to put together two profiles before jumping into the yearend list. If I was going to keep with the previous set up and include these two albums that I really like, I needed to churn out the profiles first. Named after one of the main thoroughfares in Memphis, Southern Avenue puts together funky Blues and Soul behind singer Tierinii Jackson and Isreali guitar player and bandleader Ori Naftaly. "Whiskey Love" is a really cool song, and I'm looking forward to seeing Southern Avenue as an opener for Galactic next month in Charlottesville.
8: KINGFISH, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram — "Prodigy" is probably one of those words we probably throw around too easily, like genius. Christone "Kingfish" Ingram is a prodigy. He might also be a genius, time will tell. But what he really is is a 21-year-old Blues guitar player and singer from Clarksdale, Miss., who knows where he's come from and what that means. I had the pleasure of seeing Kingfish on the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise #32 about a year ago and everyone on the boat was talking about the kid. And he did not disappoint. Many of the other artists were there for the set when I saw him. He comes with the approval of Buddy Guy, there's not much of a higher endorsement than that.
9: OKLAHOMA, Keb' Mo' — A lot of times, Blues is about pyrotechnics. You get guitar players playing loud and fast. There's a "look what I can do" component to it. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan. The next album on the list is by one of the masters. Keb' Mo' has always been just a little different, it's not guitar gymnastics. A Keb' Mo' album is about well-crafted songs and thoughtful lyrics. You can listen to them loud and let the meaning flow over you or the songs can play quietly in the background of a dinner party. The album tackles some issues like immigration ("This is My Home"), the environment ("Don't Throw it Away") and politics in general ("Put a Woman in Charge"), but he does it in that Keb' Mo' groove that makes them accessible.
10: THE TRAVELER, Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band — And then there's a guitar gymnastics of Kenny Wayne Shepherd. I never got to see Stevie Ray Vaughn play live, but I have seen Kenny Wayne play a couple of times, and I think that just might be the next best thing. There are some KWS songs where if you close your eyes you can see Stevie playing the solos. But there's more to The Traveler than that. This collection of songs with singer Noah Hunt, Double Trouble drummer Chris Layton, bass player Troy Franklin and keyboardist Riley Osbourn covers the gamut from straight Blues ("Woman Like You") to almost Pop ("Gravity") to almost Country ("Tailwind"). There are covers of Joe Walsh and Neil Young all punctuated with Shepherd's virtuosity.
11: A TUBA TO CUBA, Preservation Hall Jazz Band — A couple of (more like 23) years ago a documentary film crew went to Cuba and produced a film celebrating the music of Cuba. The resulting album, the Buena Vista Social Club was a hit and introduced a lot of people to the music that had survived and even thrived under Castro. Cuba has since opened up to tourists and one set of such travelers became New Orleans' own Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Another documentary was produced and another soundtrack brings the music of Cuba to the U.S. But the members of PHJB will tell you that the music of Cuba has been in New Orleans for generations. the result is a lot of feel-good music and jams like this.
12: LICKSKILLET, The Subdudes — Speaking of New Orleans, there's The Subdudes. It's amazing that one city can produce such diverse music. In fact, there are five albums on this list with direct ties to Louisiana. The Subdudes blend Country, Americana, Blues and R&B into a unique sound. You can always tell Tommy Malone's voice and the group's harmonies — plus the fact that the primary percussion on many of their songs is a tambourine. Lickskillet is only the band's second in the last 10 years. "Love Has The Power" is an anthem by a band that doesn't really produce anthems. The Subdudes produce relatively quiet songs and albums that make you feel good. "I Smile" is a perfect example.
13: AMERICAN MUSIC VOL. 7, Grupo Fantasma — One of the axioms here at Newmusicforoldfolks.com is that you don't have to know the words by heart to enjoy a song. The idea is to open yourself up to something new, not the same music you've been listening to since college. It turns out you don't have to understand the word either — not in a Michael Stipe on the first two R.E.M. albums kind of way, but because they're in a language you don't speak. Grupo Fantasma is a band from Austin, Texas, that sings primarily in Spanish, but it's the music that matters and that comes from a full horn section and enough Latin percussion to make Tito Puente proud. Add in guitars, bass, keyboards and and accordion and you've got a lot of fun, even if you can't understand what they're singing about most of the time.
ANOTHER DOZEN: Years to Burn, Calexico and Iron & Wine; Gnomes & Badgers, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe; The Saint of Lost Causes, Justin Townes Earle; Guy, Steve Earle & The Dukes; Kill or Be Kind, Samantha Fish; Already Ready Already, Galactic; War in My Mind, Beth Hart; Tall, Dark, and Handsome, Delbert McClinton & Self-Made Men; Lucky Guy, Nick Moss Band featuring Dennis Gruenling; Turn Off The News (Build a Garden), Lukas Nelson & The Promise of the Real; 99-Cent Dreams, Eli "Paperboy" Reed; Young, Sick Camilia, St. Paul & The Broken Bones.
