DANIEL MEADE – Keep Right Away (From The Top Records)

DANIEL MEADE Keep Right AwayA country/blues/rocker from Glasgow, Daniel Meade made a huge impression with his debut album, As Good As Bad Can Be in 2013. So much so that Morgan Jahnig of Old Crow Medicine Show, with whom Daniel has been compared, offered to produce this album. There followed a trip to Tennessee where Jahnig corralled guests Diana Jones, Shelly Colvin and OCMS’s Critter Fuqua for a week’s recording.

Jones features on a track included on the album’s first single, ‘Help Me Tonight’, a ballad waltz with lyrics that blend modern and old country. “You don’t have to love me to help me tonight” is the refrain that follows lines about “escaping my head”. The lead track of the single is the album’s opener, ‘Long Gone Wrong’, a stomping country blues that is more typical of Daniel’s style. Actually, that’s not quite true. He doesn’t restrict himself to a single style and lots of these songs could come from the 30s, 40s or 50s, dressed up in bright new clothes – except that Daniel wrote them all himself. ‘Rising River Blues’ should be an old song and ‘Gimme A Draw’ is definitely a bit of 1950s whimsy. But then comes ‘Mexico’ which is absolutely new country.

Daniel’s touring band are The Flying Mules including guitarist Lloyd Reid and Joshua Hedley who features on ‘Sing It Loud’, a barrelhouse piano driven romp. Needless to say this isn’t a record to provoke deep analysis but it’s a hell of a lot of fun.

Dai Jeffries

Artist’s website: http://danielmeade.bandcamp.com/

Keep Right Away will be launched at Celtic Connections in January.

‘Long Way To Fall’ is an old track but a good one: