THUNDER AND RAIN – Passing In The Night (own label)

Passing In The NightThunder And Rain are a four-piece band from Colorado who play Americana-esque music that is influenced by a mix of styles from classic country to old time, bluegrass, pop, and folk. Passing In The Night is their third album, to be released on January 31st and supported by gigs in Colorado followed by a return to the UK in May.

The songs are credited to the band as a whole, but there are suggestions both that lead singer Erinn Peet Lukes is the main song-writer and that the album was written after she went through a break-up. As so often, there is a creativity arising from it. The band’s website suggests that, “If the album was a movie, it would be a series of vignettes, detailing the different ways two people can meet, connect, and then disappear from each others lives”. Have a listen to ‘Uncharted, Farewell’ in the link below and you can hear the clarity of Peet Lukes’ vocal, the voice of an American angel stepping out on a new life. The remainder of the band are Ian Haegele (bass), Dylan McCarthy (Mandolin) and Allen Cooke (Dobro) and you can hear how well the band support the song from the opening guitar riff to the places where the mandolin takes over.

‘Down A Rabbit Hole’ is another instantly attractive song, the bounce of the music contradicting the doubt of wondering “maybe I’ll make it till morning”. ‘Walk Right Through The Door Of My Heart’ is everything you want a classic country song to be. It has the kind of chorus for which you should be sitting at a table, beer in hand, watching the band and singing in alliance with the female singer (about life’s dreams that have failed and the ships that have sailed) while the song builds to the concluding “Take the narrow pathway to my bed/And walk right through the door of my heart”. Perfect.

Other tracks nod more to bluegrass – ‘Two Ships’, ‘Nobody’s Darlin’’ and ‘Make It Better’ for example. ‘Wine And Weed And You’ not only references Lowell George in its title but has that same ability to transcend acoustic genres – it’s a country-ish arrangement but it’s not pinned there. ‘Get It Together’ and ‘Uncharted’ are snippets (each is less than a minute) but they work in the overall character of the album. ‘House of Light’ has a great refrain, “Love you all my life”, and some lovely instrumentation. ‘Run With You’ is more mainstream, the kind of song that would make a good introductory single or would draw you into a tent to watch the band.

Thunder And Rain are on tour in the UK for most of May – playing from North-East Scotland to the edge of the English Channel in Dorset and many points in between. They increased their fan base on the last tour of the UK and this album and this album can only build it further. Details of dates and venues are on the band’s website.

Mike Wistow

Artist’s website: https://thunderandrainmusic.com/home

‘Uncharted / Farewell’ – official video:


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