In Layman Terms – Tangled | Album Review

In Layman Terms – Tangled

Self Release

www.3inlaymanterms.com

9 tracks / 37:00

In Layman Terms’ debut album, Tangled, is a righteous collection of blues, funk, and rock, with grooving beats no matter where you look. The sister/brother duo of Logan and Cole Layman have been playing music together for their whole lives and are both amazing musicians who perform with the ease presence of hardened road veterans with decades under their belts.

On this project, Logan handled the lead vocals and bass, and Cole played the guitar parts; joining them at Lowder Sound and Clay Garden Studios (both in Virginia) was a talented group of musicians that helped them achieve a lot of different moods and sounds. These folks included the producer, Ron Lowder Jr. on drums, and Brian Kloppenburg behind the keyboards. There are a few other folks that pitched in, as you will see later on. This album has nine tracks with seven originals, and only two covers: the Laymans wrote five of the originals, and Holly Montgomery penned the other two.

The title track is the first song in their set, and they brought in a full horn that includes Ron Lowder Sr., Rick Thomasson, Mike Wholley, and Russ Robertson. “Tangled” has a huge blues and funk sound that starts things off on a strong note. The up-tempo funk is provided by Kloppenburg’s organ and Cole’s syncopated guitar rhythms, and Lowder Jr. is one hell of a drummer. Logan’s voice is a husky alto with a great range and emotion, and her phrasing and enunciation are both spot on. It would be hard to top this one, but as you will hear, the rest of the album is just as good.

This is followed up by one of the standout tracks from the album, “Fake it ‘til I Make It,” a song Logan and Cole adopted from a poem their mother wrote about depression. I have seen this song performed as an acoustic duo, but this version is more of a soulful blues rocker with plenty of B3 from Kloppenburg. Logan nails the vocals and does a marvelous job with a walking bass line, and Cole tears off a killer extended guitar solo break. This could be one of their signature songs as it defines what the duo is all about. This song is a cool contrast to their fun and sassy rocker, ”Karma,” which has cool doubled guitar/vocal parts, and shows that there is a lot of range in what this band is capable of.

The two covers are ambitious, and the Laymans pull them off with no problems at all. They take a run at Howlin’ Wolf’s “Smokestack Lightning,” which is cool to hear with a woman singing the lead. Logan does a righteous job of howling out the edgy lyrics, and Cole is a whiz at nailing the acoustic on this bare-bones track. Virginia Beach harpman Jack Campbell adds a super-distorted (yet tasteful) solo to hone the edge of an already intense song.

The other re-do closes out the set, and it takes a lot of guts to walk in Janis Joplin’s shoes, but Logan rises to the occasion and proceeds to make “Move Over” her own. The doubled vocal/guitar intro reveals an almost psychic bond between a sister and brother, and sets the tone for a real barnburner of a tune. Cole’s guitar swaps smoking solos with Lowder Sr.’s tenor sax, providing a strong finish to a solid album.

As I wrote earlier, Logan and Cole sound like they have decades of experience on stage, but that was intentionally misleading as I think their music stands on its own with no caveats about who they are. You see, this duo is still in their teenage years, but Tangled would be an awesome production no matter how old the artists are. But they are not just a studio phenomenon, and I recommend that you head over to their website to check out their videos and gig schedule, as they are a killer live act too!

Mick Kolassa – Ghosts of the Riverside Hotel | Album Review

Mick Kolassa – Ghosts of the Riverside Hotel

Swing Suit Records

www.mimsmick.com 12 tracks / 50:29

Mick Kolassa has lived and breathed the blues for the past 50 years and he is not only an accomplished singer, songwriter and guitarist, but he is also on the Board of Directors of the Blues Foundation. Taking this a step further, the proceeds from his new CD, Ghosts of the Riverside Hotel, are going to the HART Fund and Generation Blues charities that are administered by the Blues Foundation. If you are not familiar with these organizations, please look them up as they help artists in need and kids that are getting into the blues.

This new disc is 50 minutes of solid entertainment, with eight Kolassa originals and four really cool covers. This project was recorded in Memphis and was produced by Jeff Jensen; it features a retinue of Mick’s friends, including Jensen, Brandon Santini, Victor Wainwright, Annika Chambers (yay!), Watermelon Slim, Reba Russell, and a whole bunch more. The album title honors the Riverside Hotel in Clarksdale Mississippi, which has hosted a passel of fine musicians over the years, including Ike Turner, Duke Ellington, Howlin’ Wolfe and Sam Cooke. Bessie Smith passed away there back when it was a hospital, and even John F. Kennedy stayed there. Those are some pretty amazing ghosts!

The cover tunes were chosen well, and prove that Mick loves the blues – all kinds of blues. There is a spooky blues-rock take on Hank Williams’ “Ramblin Man” that could re-define what the song means to you. The band took the depression-era “One Meatball” and turned it into a lounge act with Mick channeling his inner Cab Calloway and Reba doing the Andrews Sisters part while Wainwright plays the ivories. But the standout of the covers has to be “Mama Told Me Not to Come.” This is nothing like the Three Dog Night version, but instead it is straight-up blues with the amazing Santini howling on his harp and Chris Stephenson holding things together with his organ. By the way, Randy Newman originally wrote this song for Eric Burdon, which might help you win a trivia challenge some time.

The covers are awesome but the originals are special too, as Kolassa shares his love for all kinds of blues. One of my favorites is the closer, “Delta Town,” which has a crazy beat and some gnarly style changes. Mick growls out the lyrics as Watermelon Slim does his job with the harp and dobro and Walter Hughes plays his mean slide guitar. Before I forget to mention it, Bill Ruffino and Robinson Bridgeforth hold down the backline throughout, and one could not hope for a better rhythm section.

The most poignant track on his album is “Nothin’ Left to Lose (Robin’s Blues), a tribute to the late comedian and actor, Robin Williams. This slow blues song features wonderful sax work from Kirk Smothers, which almost approaches the realm of jazz. But the lyrics are what really make the song, as they recount the feelings of a man who is putting on a happy face for the world while he is falling apart inside.

Mick Kolassa’s Ghosts of the Riverside Hotel is a fantastic album that is chock full of first call musicians and good production values, which are reasons enough to buy a copy. But, when you throw in the fact that the proceeds will further blues music education and help out musicians in need, this CD should be at the top of your list. Maybe it is a good idea to start your holiday shopping early!