Here are a few gents that sing stories of a full life.
Chuck Mead sings and plays guitar with a team that inclues Mark Andrew Miller/b, Martin Lynds/dr, Rick Staff/p-key and others on this collection of vintage sounding originals. The team mixes rockabilly with sock hop riffs that team well with Mead’s Carl Perkins-inflected voice on “Big Bear In The Sky” and the yee hawing “Better Than I Was (When I Wasn’t So Good)”. Some hot Chuck Berry guitar riffs chug along with “The Man Who Shook The World” and the VFW dancer “Daddy Worked The Pole.” This is a fun filled album that makes you want to grab your partner.
Whitey Johnson brings a horn section and collection of vocalists to join in with his band of Colin Linden/g, Dennis Wage-Kevin McKendree/p-org, Mike Joyce/b and Lynn Williams/dr for song that are as much mood as music. The soulful “More Days Like This” and swampy “The Blues Is Alive And Well” evoke sounds from Memphis and STAX records, while a more rural “Upside of Lonely” is a funky blues buster. He works well on a bluesy swinger “If It’s Really Got To Be This Way” and gets 70s mellow on “Starting A Rumor” with a dash of the Doobie Brothers chiming on “Soulshine.” The team rocks the hardest on “High Time” and shuffles well for “Hold What I Got.”
Gary Nicholson mixes message and music on this appeal to a kinder, gentler nation with this collection of impassioned originals. He teams with famed guitarist John Jorgenson, who also adds a bucketload of other instruments along with a rotating guest list. Nicholson plays well the role of the traveling minstrel on the rich “God Help America,” the thoughtful “Soft Spot” and the fun picker “Trickle Down.” Many of the themes are akin to Pete Seeger as on “Immigrant Nation” and guitar sliding title track, with a dash of bluegrass on “The Troubles.” The closing blues “Choose Love” is a heartfelt plea, making the entire album a clarion call to both sides of the political and social spectrum. Good for red and blue hearts.