Review: Brad Hammonds - Through It All

Brad Hammonds - Through It All
2009, Brad Hammonds

New York City's Brad Hammonds is familiar to many for his work with Brazz Tree. He is a regular at city hot spots such as The Blue Note, The Living Room Joe's Pub and Rockwood Music Hall. He possesses a highly percussive guitar style, falling somewhere between Richard Thompson and Ani DiFranco, and brings the same sort of laid back spirit to his music that has made Dave Matthews a fan favorite. 2009 sees the release of Hammonds' debut solo album, Through It All, a musical experience you don't want to deny yourself.

Through It All opens with the title track, sounding like a Paul Simon/Dave Matthews hybrid. This is a dark and meaty acoustic tune with some edgy harmonies and a bass line that walks the song along. The Story Of A Man That Lost Everything is a great instrumental arrangement, although I wasn't impressed with the vocal line on this one. Medicine finds Hammonds digging into the signature rhythmic guitar style of his. This is a driven song that will stick with you when its done playing. The Judge sounds a bit like personal favorite Michael Kroll. I enjoyed the song, but the vocal line was a bit low in the production settings and was difficult to follow in the chorus. You'll want to check out Fade Away, particularly if you play guitar; Hammonds dazzles with an intricate and fluid performance here. Other highlights include Losing Control, Weightless and Indignation.

Brad Hammonds has a distinctive and complex compositional style fueled by his high-energy, rhythmic guitar style. His voice is decent, but doesn't quite keep up with his guitar play on a few of the tracks presented on Through It All. This is more of a production issue than anything, as often the loss comes because the vocal line is too low for Hammonds to generate significant volume, or the production settings for the vocal line are too close to the instrumentation to hear them properly. On the whole, Through It All is a strong effort. The songwriting is solid and Hammonds is a wizard with the guitar. I suspect he'd be uber-impressive live.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Brad Hammonds at http://www.bradhammonds.com/ or www.myspace.com/bradrhammonds. You can purchase a copy of Through It All at www.cdbaby.com/cd/bradhammonds.

Review: Flint Zeigler - The New Harmony Sessions

Flint Zeigler - The New Harmony Sessions
2008, Flint Zeigler

Tennessee's Flint Zeigler has known musical success before. As a member of Grantham Road he charted on the Roots Music Report (#26 for the 2006 album Parade); receiving significant airplay in markets such as Philadelphia, South Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, Alaska and New York City. Grantham Road played with Hootie & The Blowfish, The Badlees and Saving Jane. Zeigler's soulful voice (somewhere between Darius Rocker and either March Cohn or Michael Kroll) and melodic guitar style wrap themselves around and through songs about love, family, spirituality, faith, loss and God. While not overtly Christian music, there is a strong Judeo-Christian ethic at the base of Zeigler's songwriting. Produced by David Foreman (Dwight Yoakam, John Hiatt), The New Harmony Sessions is an uplifting and thoughtful album in the classic singer/songwriter tradition.

I had to check a couple of time when I first put this in to make sure I'd grabbed the right discs. Flint Zeigler sounds so much like Michael Kroll (long one of my favorite Indie artists) that I was certain I'd made a mistake; but no. There are subtle differences if you listen closely, but they could be brothers to judge by their voices. Zeigler brings eleven autobiographical songs on The New Harmony Sessions that are among the most enjoyable I've heard in 2009; Zeigler is a master story-teller in song. The CD opens with Martyrs, a wonderfully soulful song about working your way through personal and marital difficulties in the face of a sometimes cruel world. It's a positive message that is often eschewed for easy answers and the song is, quite frankly, inspiring. Zeigler delivers all of this with a melody hat will stick in your head like superglue and a classy, soulful arrangement.

Gone Away is a song that could go a long, long way for Zeigler. It was written about spending an evening alone with his wife; about wanting to be never separated from the one you love. Expect this to be licensed in the extreme. It's a mix-tape song, a wedding song and a potential part of the soundtrack to millions of everyday lives. This song works because even though it is a highly personal memoir of one evening in Zeigler's life, it's universal. Survive is a contemplative declaration that is very powerful in its quiet determination. In These Days is a song of faith and a lamentation of the general loss thereof in society. Zeigler references Martin Luther, Mother Theresa and John The Baptist, among others, as signs of inspiration of days gone by, and mourns the absence of similar folks in this day and age. Zeigler thinks that either God has stopped speaking to us or we've stopped listening, and this is the heartfelt extension of those ideas into song.

Felt Like Rain is a wonderfully dark folk/rock tune with some amazing guitar work and a plodding, soulful vocal that is extremely memorable. Other highlights include the reserved Sorrow And Gin, Touch And Bloom and Room Of Cards.

Flint Zeigler is a masterful story teller with an ear for melody and a talent for writing striking yet reserved guitar-based arrangements for his songs. The New Harmony Sessions tells true life stories in song. I found myself getting more drawn in with each song. Zeigler will charm you with sometimes dark stories full of light and life; Stories about hard times where faith and hope are the only life raft remaining, and in the end the sunshine always peaks through. This is an amazing album that should march across all sorts of musical barriers. Zeigler is an amazing talent. Check out this disc.

Rating: 4.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Flint Zeigler at www.myspace.com/flintzeigler or www.myspace.com/granthamroad. You can purchase a copy of The New Harmony Sessions at www.cdbaby.com/cd/flintzeigler.

Classic Indie Review: Michael Kroll - Nothing Blue

From time to time I will pull a title from my own collection of Indie and/or lesser known bands to review. These are albums that are on my own personal Desert Island list; discs I just wouldn't want to be without. There's no specific schedule for these. They'll just come up as they come up. Enjoy.








Michael Kroll - Nothing Blue
1994, 13 Blackbird Music

In 1994 I attended a Tori Amos show at Buffalo State University where the scheduled opening act was The Devlins. I had been unimpressed with the proposed opening act and was not disappointed when it was announced The Devlins' bus had broken down and would not make the show. As a replacement, Seattle singer/songwriter Michael Kroll walked out on stage with no backing band except his acoustic guitar. This guy we'd never heard of kept the entire audience transfixed for the next 30 minutes as he created an orchestra of sounds from one guitar to support his subtle and intelligent story songs. Kroll was touring in support of his debut album, Nothing Blue, which was a consumate Americana/pop album before anyone knew what Americana was.

Nothing Blue opens with In God's Acre, a song that will ring true in any rust belt or working class town. Kroll's voice rings true to the working class ethic that rings throughout Nothing Blue, with just a hint of gruffness within a wonderful textured tenor. Independence Day Again explores the difficulties that Veterans face against the backdrop of a celebration of the gains their sacrifices wrought. It is one of the most sensitive and serious explorations of this difficult topic I've heard in song; endlessly melodic and rich in musical composition, Kroll hit an absolute grand slam with this one.

Pilgrim Soul is the consummate love song. This is absolute mix-tape material, and sadly one of the most overlooked songs in pop/rock music. Pilgrim Soul could be a hit in any era from the 1960's on. I'm truly surprised that this song was never licensed for film or television. Speed of Sound is almost a companion piece to Pilgrim Soul. Where Pilgrim Soul is a celebration, Speed Of Sound is a reverential prayer made from need. This song will haunt you. Walking The Fence describes the ambivalence the narrator feels about a reckless relationship. It's another song with significant commercial potential that was born 10-15 years too early.

Close Your Eyes is probably the most touching and hauntingly beautiful song on Nothing Blue. It's a song about regret that will get inside your head and won't go away. It's one of those songs that rings true for everyone who hears it in some way or another, wrapped in love and faith. 1001 is a stark explanation of a dream that holds some of the most involved guitar work on the album (that's saying something). It's a personal favorite of mine and likely to insinuate itself in your consciousness on one listen. Eastern Star is a wistful soliloquy about someone on the other side of the globe. It is particularly poignant in a time of war when so many loved ones are so far away.

We Can Only Be Lovers is a cynical song about misguided attempts at a relationship between two people who just do not match. The song is steeped in a bluesy feel that is part dirty regret and part remorse. We Can Only Be Lovers is very moving and honest without sounding trite. Nothing Blue But The Sky lends the album its title, and is probably the song that would translate most easily to a rock arrangement. The song is about determination and survival in a world where we all feel somewhat separated from one another. Trying To Say is perhaps my favorite track here. It just has a rhythm to it that drives the song, and is a rock song in acoustic format. It's just one of those songs that will run through your head at odd times even if you haven't picked up the album for months. Nothing Blue closes with Nobody Knows, a sober and sad song that could be the anthem for an old-timer in any working class town. Michael Kroll managed to capture the essence of the forgotten heartland of America in three-and-a-half minutes like maybe no one else has here.

In Nothing Blue, Michael Kroll created one of the quintessential albums in Indie Folk Rock, regardless of era. The fact that the album was largely overlooked is irrelevant. If you’re looking for the complete singer/songwriter/performer, then Michael Kroll hit the arc of perfection back in 1994. Nothing Blue is a Wildy’s World Certified Desert Island Disc, and one of my personal favorite albums.

Rating: 5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Michael Kroll at www.myspace.com/michaelkrollmusic, where you can purchase a download of Nothing Blue as well as several other releases. I don’t know if hard copy CDs are available anymore, so you’ll likely have to look to eBay or Amazon for used copies.