Between Ragged and Right: Indie Round-Up

This week I thought I would try to fit in some deserving CDs, which I haven’t been able to get out there yet.  The Round-Up reviews might become a more regular feature with all of the great music that is coming in monthly.Eric Hisaw – The Crosses: One of the best things about doing CD reviews is the CDs you receive by artists you have never heard of, but are glad you finally have.  Eric Hisaw is one such artist.  The Crosses is his fourth independent release and it is a strong one.  For me, Hisaws’ voice is a nice mixture of early Elvis Costello and Richard Buckner.  His songwriting is strongly influenced by observations of those who came through his life as a young child in Las Cruces, NM and form stories that are easily relatable.  “Peggy” talks about that friend or relative who pops in and out of your life, always with a tale to tell.  In “Every Sunday” the main character struggles with reconciling his past lifestyle with that of the married life he now lives.  The things his wife doesn’t say to him torture the man in “Silence”.  Strong characters, characters we all know or have been, populate Hisaw’s songs and bring to life the picture he paints on The Crosses.Allan Harris – Cross That River:Cross That River is one of the most interesting projects to come across my desk in a long time.  Allan Harris is a renowned Jazz singer featured on several BET specials, featured in a Smithsonian film on Jazz and sold out the Kennedy Center with his tribute to Jazz Great Billy Strayhorn.  His newest project focuses on the African-American experience in the Old West.“Cross That River" is from the perspective of a slave longing for Freedom while “Blue Was Angry” is from the perspective of a slave who, in the confusion of the beginnings of the Civil War, escapes to unclaimed territory.  Other characters that populate the Harris’ songs include Buffalo Soldiers, freed slaves and a few ladies of the West.Harris has an authoritative voice that suits the tone of the project perfectly.  The songs, all written by Harris, do a fantastic job of laying out the scenes and populating them with historically accurate characters.  The contributions of African-Americans to the settling of the West are often overlooked and Harris does a good job of putting those contributions into perspective.JR and the Roadkill Choir – Old Family Recipe:Novelty songs come in many stripes from simple wordplay (such as Roger Miller) to out and out comedy (such as Ray Stevens).  JR and the Roadkill Choir stand on the Miller side of the fence while occasionally stepping over to visit the Stevens school.  Songs such as “I’m Drinking You Beautiful” and “You’re too Ugly to be Cheatin’ on me” contain the same type of humor as songs such as the Bruce Robison penned “You’re Not the Best” or “What Would Willie Do?”  There are several songs on Old Family Recipe that could easily be cut by mainstream Country artists such as Alan Jackson.  One track that jumps out would be “Redneck with the White Collar Blues” in which the protagonist laments the office life against the backdrop of his upbringing.Unlike many novelty CDs, Old Family Recipe stands up well to repeated listens without the joke wearing thin.  JR and the Roadkill Choir won the 2005 battle of the bands competition at the legendary Tootsies in Nashville which serves as evidence that they also take their musicianship seriously.

Tags: Reviews