Acoustic, bluesy and folksy..
From Nashville, Renee Wahl delivers a 5 song ep that shows impressive composing skills with putting her life on her sleeve. Her band The Sworn Secrets comprises Patterson Barrett/g-key, Daniel Seymour-Ron Eoff/g and Joshua Hunt-Bryan Owings/dr as he sweet yet earthy voice bounces on the two stepping “ Wild Living” and the country rocker “See You On The Way Down.” The team rumbles on “Better the Devil” and her acoustic picking serves as perfect drapery for the vulnerable “Whiskey Smells Like Bad Decisions.” She’s got a lot to say and she says it with conviction.
Move east a few hundred miles, and you’ve got tunesmith Adam Carroll, who is one of the more creative composers these days. He’s got a feel like John Prine and Townes Van Zandt, with his lyrics going between irony, heartache and human observation. You get a mix and match team of acoustic musicians, ranging between intimate duets or full bands with drums. Vocals are delivered by various guests such as James McMurtry, Scott Nolan, Terri Hendrix and Walt Wilkins on all 15 tracks with Carroll himself joining in on “My Only Good Spirit.” An impressive prophetic voice for today’s generation.
Adam Karch has a warm and well worn voice as he sings and plays guitar with Bernard Deslauriers/dr, Marc-Andre’ Drouin/b and a handful of guests. He mixes h is own compositions with some interesting 70s covers, as Bob Segar’s “Night Moves” is slow and sinister and Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London” is finger picking good. He also displays his acuity with strings on on “Somewhere in El Paso,” and “Louis Collins,” while for the rest of the album he sounds folksy and warm on the earnest “Seaside Venues” and storytelling “ Somewhere In El Paso.” A minstrel in our midst.