The fact that they’ve spent their lives together since they were kids goes a long way to explaining the chemistry between Alyssa and Doug Graham’s sophomore album, a 12 track Americana collection that mixes up the occasional ballad with more lively and rumbustious numbers such as the title track opener, an express train, leg slapping rocker where she numbers all the regrets of a misspent youth when she felt the need to “put the hammer down”.
Like its predecessor, 2013’s Riverman’s Daughter, which came from them travelling the Mississippi’s Great River Road, only this time, riding the rails across America, capturing the rhythm of the life. Other up-tempo material includes a bluesy choogling ‘Gambling Girl’, the fiddle hoe down bounce of ‘Kansas City’ and hand clapping country gospel ‘Mama’, while, taking the pace down just a notch, the Dobro-accompanied ‘Borderland’ , the pedal-steel rolling ‘The Spinner’ and a twangy, upbeat ‘Promised Land’ are solid honky-tonk country and ‘Blow Wind Blow’ is a dark, traditional-coloured folk swaying number with Celtic fiddle and organ driven chorus and, referencing serving in Iraq, a lyric about families left behind and alone.
Showing the more melancholic, slower side of the coin, ‘Lay Me Down’ offers a tender, southern country-soul romantic ballad with ‘The Wild One’ calling to mind The Band, ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’ in particular, and then it’s back to the jazzy swing and Dolly Parton touches of ‘Biscuits’, further emphasising the duo’s musical versatility. Highly recommended.
Mike Davies
Artists’ website: http://thegrahamsmusic.net/
‘Gambling Girl’ – official video:
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