CD Review: Grand Old Grizzly's Self-Titled Release

Grand Old Grizzly
Grand Old Grizzly
Self-Release

A Texas alt-country act, Grand Old Grizzly presents us with an upbeat, bluegrass, and folk-tinged tunes with clever lyrics and memorable melodies on drums, guitars, keyboards, pedal steel, and bass. Grand Old Grizzly is led by vocalist and guitarist, Will Thomas. But he is joined by Mark Riddell on bass, vocals, keyboards, and percussion; Dustin Welch on banjo; Paul Beebe on drums, vocals, and guitars; and Craig Feazel and Katie Stuckey on pedal steel. The Americana folk sounds are rousing to say the least. There is even a bit of grungy/country-rock on "Tallahassee." The vocals on most of the songs resemble a younger version of Counting Crows-frontman, Adam Duritz. There are pop-centric elements which are bright and energetic, but the vocals are never loud or indiscriminate. The simplistic "I Was Thinkin'" is a dreamy ode on guitar with light instrumental embellishments. "Pretty Little Head" contains a slew of poetic vocals and giddy guitar stylings with pure pop pleasure wrapped around a country-esque backbone. There are eleven songs in all and none of them suffer from any insufficiencies. Grand Old Grizzly is grand music with a heart and soul. ~ Matthew Forss  

CD Review: Caroline Herring's 'Camilla'

Caroline Herring
Camilla
Signature Sounds

The Southern folk/blues/pop style of Mississippi-native and Georgia resident, Caroline Herring, is nostalgic, historical, and thought-provoking. The folk repertoire consists of acoustic guitar and vocals by Caroline, as well as Steven Sheehan on acoustic guitar, Fats Kaplin on pedal steel, fiddle, and banjo, Bryan Owings on drums and chains, and Bryn Davies on upright bass. The serene fiddle and sweet vocals on "Black Mountain Lullaby" are especially inviting. Though, the banjo really gets a workout on "Fireflies." The vocals are reminiscent of Mary Chapin Carpenter, Shawn Colvin, Heidi Talbot, and Karine Polwart. The vocal "Traveling Shoes" is void of any instrumentation.  The album art represents an artistic presence of simplistic domesticity and equality issues commonplace in the 1960s. At any rate, the scintillating folk guitar and instrumentation is full of good things. Fans of the aforementioned artists will add Caroline Herring's new release to their collection without any reservations. ~ Matthew Forss