After time spent playing pedal steel and organ for Americana duo The War & Treaty, Bronchtein stepped away in 2019 to focus on his own work. The pandemic hit soon after, and in the absence of touring he got to work on new material in his home studio that will form a new record, to be released in the coming months.

For now, we have new single ‘Middle of the Road’ to suggest the direction of the forthcoming album. Written in collaboration with Caitlin Canty, the song was performed in Nashville by a full band including Cy Winstanley, Sam Howard, Nate Barnes, and Rachel Baiman, with engineering form Sean Sullivan and mixing by Tyler Fortier. The result is as full-bodied as the line-up suggests, a rich and decidedly anthemic song anchored by Bronchtein’s distinctively evocative delivery. A track which finds a steady confidence as it develops, assured in its own pace and frame of mind.

Between two lines In the middle of the road
Can’t pass me by In the middle of the road
Gonna take my time In the middle of the road

Rock in my tire keeping time
Strobing light between the pines
My heartbeat finds the rhythm

All my friends are taking sides
Picking fights drawing lines
I ain’t going with them

The post Philippe Bronchtein – Middle of the Road appeared first on Various Small Flames.

As we explained in our previous post, Statz enlisted the help of a variety of musicians to bring his album to life. Jeffrey Foucault produced the album and lended his guitar and vocal skills, Caitlin Canty provided harmonies while Billy Conway (of Morphine) drummed, Mark Spencer (of Son Volt) played guitar, Jeremy Moses Curtis (of Booker T band) the bass and Matt Lorenz the fiddle. There is something gratifying about a range of talented people getting together to bring one man’s writing to reality, a more traditional sense of folk community opposed to the set line-up of most contemporary bands.

The album opens with the title track, an atmospheric all-American song made for driving long roads in beat-up cars, rife with that half-mean, half-defeated air of a compulsive whiskey drinker. It tells the tale of a sad traveller stuck working in a Tulsa casino after car trouble, playing on the uniquely soul-destroying mix of desperation and sadness that drifts around casinos and seeps through your skin:

“Working at the Cherokee casino,
watching people pull the slot machines.
Wasting all those precious hours,
wasting money like it’s free.

Working late into the mornings,
sleeping through the afternoons.
I still dream of Arizona,
but I guess Tulsa has to do.”

‘Old Pro’ is romantic in a different way, a classic country love song with wistful violins and pedal steel in which money and distance and time get in the way of what could have been. The album as a whole flits between emotions in this way, with the mood changing between the galvanised surety of chirpy Americana songs like  ‘Home at Last’ and ‘One Way Opens’, the late-night bourbon-scented blues of ‘Exposure’ and ‘Tanneburg’, and the contemplative melancholy of ‘Any Town Will Do’, ‘Roadkill Zone’ and the mournful Radiohead cover ‘Motion City Soundtrack’. The result is a complete picture of love and loss, the massive highs and crushing lows of a single lovelorn drinker, the stories he half-hears over the jukebox, the collective emotions of a room or time. A snapshot of Tulsa and all its characters.

You can buy Tulsa now from the John Statz Bandcamp page.

John is also about to embark on a tour of the UK and Ireland. Check out the dates below and then go along and support him!

The post John Statz – Tulsa appeared first on Various Small Flames.

As ever with Kickstarter, the basic options essentially allow you to pre-order the album while helping the artist, and there are a number of juicy prizes for those with a few more dollars to spare. Head on over to the Tulsa Kickstarter page and give what you can.

The post John Statz – Tulsa Kickstarter Campaign appeared first on Various Small Flames.

“After releasing my last record, I hit the road hard with a revolving roster of musicians, writing songs and sharing stages with some of my heroes.  One of them, Jeffrey Foucault, signed on to produce my new album and booked my dream band to play on it.  I wrote like wildfire in the months leading up to the session.  In late October we walked into Sonelab studio in Easthampton, MA and spent four days playing these songs live, cutting 19 tracks in all.  We walked out the door with the core of my new album, RECKLESS SKYLINE.

This is the best music I’ve ever made – it feels so good.  I can’t wait to share it with you.”

The album is going to be a mix of foot-stomping rockers, country ballads and delicate folk. So if that sounds like your thing then why not give a little something?

Click the link above for a trailer, and support the album here. The Kickstarter page also contains details of all the rewards you can get for donations, as well as previews of some of the tracks.

The post Caitlin Canty – Reckless Skyline appeared first on Various Small Flames.