VARIOUS —EAST NASHVILLE Vol. 3 MORE MUSIC FROM THE OTHER SIDE (Red Beet)

[Maurice Hope]

www.redbeetrecords.com
Here we have another superb compilation of music from Americana artists of the East Nashville alternative community.

While put out by Red Beet records it is not the home of most acts but it does have a universal connection for the likes of innovative acts Elizabeth Cook, Phil Lee, Stephen Simmons, Kieran Kane and Jon Byrd who like with label owners Peter Cooper (w/ Lloyd Green) and Eric Brace make music stripped of commercial gloss. The real deal!

The 18 track compilation is loaded with such awesome talent and songs in this volume to match the first (Vol 2 was a Christmas record) release it is a fabulous introduction to some splendid acts.
While some are commendable enough they struggle to match the likes of songs from Simmons’ gritty, heart torn love ballad ‘Amanda’, Brace with his tribute to moon walker Neil Armstrong ‘Tranquillity Base’, Australian gal Audrey Auld’s sparkling ‘Love You Like the Earth’ and there is Tim Carroll’s (husband of Elizabeth Cook) funky tune ‘No Easy Way’. That contains an incessant base of harmonica and electric guitar to aid the talking blues piece.

You also have rare gems from innovative songwriter, mandolin, banjo act Kane. While could there be a better way to remember Nashville session player Duane Jarvis than the apt ‘I Miss You Already’. I so love both the fiddle and general eloquent feel of the song as Jarvis’ warm vocal style reminds me of Barry Tashian, and that is no bad thing for the one-time member of Emmylou Harris’ Hot Band and duet partner of his wife Holly Tashian is a splendid and overlooked act in his own right.

Chuck Mead of BR54-9 fame figures well, as do the likes of Amelia White through the progressive ‘Tiny Drops of Rain’ and the flamboyant Phil Lee. Byrd is an extraordinary singer-songwriter who is up there alongside Kane of whom I have heaped praise upon in the past and will i am sure continue to do so in the future. Great stuff! There are others, too, rough-hewn vocalist Matt Urmy and of course Cooper’s slow paced ‘Gospel Song’ —that has Nashville great Lloyd Green on steel guitar are both notable efforts. The combination on the latter helps take Cooper’s wonderful lyrics to another level.
Maurice Hope

"The Red Beet Records East Nashville Revue" feat. Phil Lee, Last Train Home, and Eric Brace & Peter Cooper. In conjunction with The Medicine Show On The Road this summer playing cool Americana Festivals, venues and radio shows http://flyinshoes.ning.com/profile/RedBeetRecordsEastNashville


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