This is a cool disc. It combines folk music, country and more to create something probably best described as roots music or Americana. Most of the songs have both male and female vocals in fairly even amounts. All in all, this is entertaining stuff.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2015 Volume 2 at lulu.com/strangesound.
Track by Track Review
Broken Arrow
Folk, country and more merge on this song. “Americana” is the best overall description.
Rolling 60’s Although there isn’t a huge amount of difference here, I really love some of the guitar melodies on this number.
End of the Line Very much an old school country type song, the lyrics to this are definitely worth checking out. It’s got an old time country theme. While almost all of the other songs on the disc have both prominent male and female vocals, this one is almost exclusively controlled by the female vocals.
Princess of Fresno This one lands more in country mixed with folk territory. It’s very old school in texture and delivery. It’s a fun number.
Mexican Moon More pure folk, this has a lot of magic within. It’s dramatic and evocative and quite pretty.
Small Change Another that’s quite firmly set in folk music, this is also another strong one.
Shallow Water With a lot of old school gospel and country in the mix, this is a bouncy number that works quite well.
Ghost Town Girl The title track, this is actually one of the best songs here. It isn’t that it’s a huge change. Rather, it’s more a case of everything just working better on this tune to create some real magic.
Torch Song Another with just female vocals, this is a great change. It’s arguably one of the best songs of the set. It has a killer bluesy grind to it. It feels lyrically like a predecessor to “End of the Line.”
I Think It’s You They definitely saved the best songs for the final three slots. This has a lot of that same folk sound to it, but it’s also related to some of the stuff the Grateful Dead are famous for. That’s especially true of the more rocking music near the end.
