Luther Wright and the Wrongs : Profession de foin

Luther Wright and the Wrongs : Profession de foin The Wall , petit chef-d’oeuvre du rock, serait-il en fait un album country? La formation canadienne Luther Wright and the Wrongs en est persuadée. Banjo, mandoline et pedal steel à la main, le groupe révise le classique des Floyd avec une bonne dose d’humour. Nicolas Houle 10 janvier 2002 L’histoire se déroule quelque part entre Edmunston et Québec. Le chanteur et guitariste Luther Wright, en tournée avec l’un de ses trois groupes, Weeping Tile, gratte sa guitare en écoutant distraitement la radio. Une chanson bien connue de Pink Floyd, Another Brick in the Wall Part 2, attire son attention. "J’ai pensé: The Wall est un bon album country, se remémore-t-il, le plus sérieusement du monde. Puis, avec les Wrongs, on s’est dit que peut-être que si on jouait les chansons de The Wall de la façon dont on joue nos propres chansons, ce serait intéressant…" Un mur typiquement canadien Ce qui n’était au départ qu’une simple blague a rapidement pris des proportions insoupçonnées: le projet a permis au groupe d’être signé chez Universal, de faire paraître au printemps 2001 Rebuild the Wall Part I, reprise convaincante des 13 premières chansons du célèbre album, et, à l’automne dernier, Rebuild the Wall version complète, où les 26 chansons de Waters ont droit à des arrangements country, bluegrass et hillbilly particulièrement savoureux: In the Flesh devient une valse, Goodbye Blue Sky un set carré, Young Lust peut désormais faire compétition à Achy Breaky Heart et être dansée en ligne tandis que les trois parties d’Another Brick in the Wall évoquent Ghost Riders in the Sky avec, en prime, des coups de feu et des hennissements de chevaux. Même les pochettes des albums n’échappent pas à l’esthétique country en présentant un mur constitué de bottes de foin! Luther Wright and the Wrongs n’a pourtant rien d’un groupe hommage. Ayant deux albums originaux à son actif, la formation de Kingston, constituée de Wright (guitare, chant), Cam Giroux (batterie, chant), Sean Kelly (basse, chant), Dan Curtis (guitare, banjo, mandoline, chant) et Olesh Maximew (pedal steel), fait ses preuves depuis 1996 sur les scènes country du Canada et des États-Unis avec son propre matériel. Hormis la reprise impromptue d’Another Brick in the Wall, rien ne prédestinait la troupe à reprendre The Wall en entier, d’autant que Wright n’avait jamais été un féru des Floyd. Mais peu à peu, l’aventure a pris l’allure d’un défi à relever, car l’oeuvre permettait aux Wrongs d’explorer d’autres facettes de leurs talents tout en restant fidèle à leur son: "C’est véritablement devenu un projet technique pour nous, indique le leader du groupe. On a pris un réel plaisir à transformer la musique de quelqu’un d’autre pour qu’elle satisfasse nos propres besoins." Rebâtir le mur Quand ils ont décidé de remodeler The Wall, les cinq acolytes de Luther Wright and the Wrongs ont décidé de jouer les perfectionnistes et n’ont pas hésité à visionner le film, à réécouter le disque, à se documenter sur la genèse de l’album, à décortiquer les partitions et à bien assimiler les paroles pour que rien ne leur échappe. Pas étonnant que l’élaboration de Rebuild the Wall, qui ne devait initialement durer qu’un seul mois, se soit finalement échelonnée sur six. "Dan Curtis, le guitariste et chanteur, tenait à ce qu’on ait de hauts standards de qualité, tant sur le plan de la performance que sur celui de la production, explique Wright. On voulait aussi s’efforcer de ne manquer aucune référence à l’album, aussi subtile soit-elle, bref, que tout soit parfait." Malgré son côté loufoque, Rebuild the Wall est peut-être devenu le projet le plus sérieux de la formation de Kingston. Collaborant avec une foule de musiciens, dont la chanteuse Sarah Harmer, qui offre un très beau duo sur Mother, et le bassiste Jason Mercer (Ani DiFranco), qui assure le banjo tout au long de l’album, le quintette a érigé le fameux mur avec une aisance, une minutie et un plaisir évidents. Seules quelques pièces ont résisté au traitement que leur réservaient Wright et ses complices: The Trial, pour laquelle le groupe a fait appel à l’inspiration d’une de ses collaboratrices, Julia Schall, et Run Like Hell, que Wright a entièrement récrite. "Selon moi, la raison pour laquelle le country a si bien fonctionné sur cet album, c’est que Roger Waters a dû écrire ces chansons de son côté, seul à la guitare acoustique â€" un peu comme Bob Dylan â€" avec surtout des accords de base comme sol, do et ré, croit Wright. Ce sont des accords que les gens de country utilisent beaucoup. Si vous enlevez le travail de production qui vaut des millions de dollars et que vous rassemblez un groupe de musiciens qui jouent du banjo et de la guitare acoustique autour de ces chansons-là, vous verrez: c’est un album country!" Accentuant à gros traits la dimension country en jouant sur les clichés musicaux (pedal steel, banjo, chant nasillard) et les archétypes du genre (cow-boy, ferme, pistolets), la formation a donné naissance à un The Wall où tristesse et gaieté cohabitent étroitement, comme c’est souvent le cas dans la musique country. Luther Wright se défend toutefois d’avoir ridiculisé l’oeuvre de Waters en y mettant sa dose d’humour. Pour lui, le rire permet plutôt d’alléger certains passages, plus lourds ou plus déchirants, comme sur In the Flesh, seule pièce où les Wrongs se sont permis d’altérer le texte original. Cette chanson relate l’épisode où le personnage de Pink devient un véritable dictateur et où son spectacle devient le carrefour de l’antisémitisme et de l’intolérance. Là où Pink s’en prend aux homosexuels (queer) et aux Noirs (coon), les Wrongs ont préféré s’en prendre aux chevreuils (deer) et aux ratons laveurs (raccoon). "C’est une question de contexte qui motive ce choix, explique Luther Wright. Sur la version originale, c’est le grand concert, mais pour nous, il n’y a pas de concert de ce genre, c’est rural et ça n’aurait pas cadré de conserver ces paroles. Il aurait quasiment fallu écrire un avertissement pour expliquer ce que venaient faire ces propos diffamatoires sur l’album et dans nos spectacles." De l’autre côté du mur En plus d’avoir reçu l’aval et les souhaits de bonne chance de Roger Waters, l’aventure comico-country de Luther Wright et sa bande a été fort bien reçue par les critiques et par l’entourage de Pink Floyd. Selon les dires de Wright, Bob Ezrin, producteur de l’album et compositeur de la musique de The Trial, aurait apprécié et se serait empressé de faire tourner l’album sur sa station radio habituellement consacrée au hard rock, tandis que Nick Mason, le batteur des Floyd, se serait manifesté il y a environ un mois, pour dire qu’il avait "vraiment vraiment aimé l’album". Or si plusieurs aiment, d’autres sont complètement dégoûtés par le travail des Wrongs. Certains fans de Pink Floyd auraient même songé à offrir au groupe une sérieuse raclée pour venger l’honneur de leur album favori: "Il y a eu des gars qui sont venus à un spectacle à London, en Ontario, trois costauds qui se sont positionnés directement en face de la scène, raconte Wright. Quand on a commencé à jouer, ils faisaient la gueule, puis ils se sont mis à chanter avec nous et à la fin du show, ils nous ont payé des bières! Ils nous ont dit: "On est venus ici en ne sachant pas trop si on devait vous tuer ou quoi pour ce que vous avez fait, mais finalement, c’était bon!"" Bien que le succès de Rebuild the Wall soit indéniable et que l’album, déjà distribué à travers le Canada, sera bientôt distribué aux États-Unis, sachez qu’il n’est pas du tout question d’enregistrer une version bluegrass de Dark Side of the Moon pour les Wrongs. Le prochain défi du groupe sera plutôt de faire comprendre aux gens que Luther Wright and the Wrongs est d’abord et avant tout une formation de musique originale: "On a déjà deux albums de musique originale et on a fait le tour du Canada plus d’une fois, rappelle Wright. On se fera sans doute connaître pour avoir été les gars qui ont fait The Wall en country, mais c’est ok, on en est fiers et ça nous permet de jouer dans de nouvelles villes et devant de nouveaux publics. On verra où ça nous mènera et si on est trop malheureux, on pourra toujours changer de nom!…"

Hearts and Lonely Hunters

Perhaps best known for his alt-country take on Pink Floyd's The Wall (2001's epic Rebuild The Wall), Luther Wright and his band, the Wrongs, are back with the latest in a lengthy catalogue of mostly original material. Produced by long-time collaborator Hugh Christopher Brown and featuring Wright's Weeping Tile band mate Sarah Harmer on backup vocals (along with appearances by the Holmes Brothers, bassist Tony Scherr and Anton Fier on drums), Wright's songwriting on Hearts and Lonely Hunters is goofy enough that it's easy (at least initially) to lose sight of the musical sophistication that makes the record so easy to listen to. From the little guitar outro at the end of opener "Black Mark" to the exuberance of the poppy "Come Over & Jam," from the melodic mid-tempo roots rock and beautiful strings of "Heart's For Breaking" to the effervescent country rock of "Lucifer," the deft use of guitar, pedal steel, organs and keys throughout Hearts and Lonely Hunters makes it a nicely textured, happy mess of an album about life, love, being broke and making music anyway that would be cozy in rotation with NQ Arbuckle and Carolyn Mark. I could live without another quirky Casio song about Elvis ("Elvis") but Wright oft surprises with heartfelt strummers, too, as illustrated when he reaches the quietly emotional apex of "Broken Yesterdays" â€" just wait for it.

Hearts And Lonely Hunters

Kingston native Luther Wright's brand of down-home tunes doesn't fit easily or comfortably into the genres it's stuffed into. The songs are too weird to be country, too traditional to be alt-country (whatever that is) and too ambitious to be simply folk. He occupies a distinct space thanks to off-kilter phrasing and a refusal to be sonically restricted. At times his style can border on annoying, but when he hits his marks, Wright (with his Wrongs) pulls off some truly magical Canadiana. The One Girl shows a spark of Wright's punk roots and adds a dose of 80s pop drive à la the Replacements, like the defining track in a John Hughes flick. But the quirky kitsch-folk of jaunty Front Porch and marginally more successful The Parking Lot Song doesn't hold up against more thoughtful, less gimmicky tunes like Lucifer. The album hits its emotional high point on Northern, where subtle, sweet pedal steel brushes up against Wright and (former Weeping Tile bandmate) Sarah Harmer's tried and true harmonies. Top track: Northern

Five Questions with...Luther Wright

When you manage to pull off an idea as audacious as doing a country/bluegrass version of Pink Floyd’s The Wall (with Roger Waters’ full approval), it’s certainly a hard act to follow. But Luther Wright hasn’t let that overshadow his own original efforts, which often take the sounds of traditional country music to similarly unexpected places. That’s once again evident on Wright and his band The Wrongs’ latest album, Hearts And Lonely Hunters, which offers humour and heartbreak in equal measure, while augmenting pure down- home twang with lush strings, soulful keyboards, and the unmistakable backing vocals of Sarah Harmer. Prior to heading out on his own with The Wrongs, Wright was best known as lead guitarist in Weeping Tile, the seminal Nineties band from Kingston, Ontario that first put Harmer on the map. These days, Wright spends most of his time in Wakefield, Quebec, just outside Ottawa, where he’s cultivated a coterie of musical friends who share his unpretentious approach. Among them is his longtime producer Hugh Christopher Brown (Chris Brown & Kate Fenner, Bourbon Tabernacle Choir), whose funky inflections are all over Hearts And Lonely Hunters, from his own keyboard playing, to bringing in other guests such as The Holmes Brothers, and the in- demand New York City rhythm section of drummer Anton Fier and bassist Tony Scherr. Having had a taste of major label success in a few different guises over his career, Wright now seems settled into life as a Canadian indie fixture, making records that in some ways don’t sound like anything else out there. At their core, however, is an honesty that provides a constant reminder of what country music is really all about. Hearts And Lonely Hunters is available to order now at www.lutherwright.com, and will be officially released on January 16 through Outside Music. What sets this new album apart from your previous work? Well for one, it’s sort of a compilation of the styles of music I played in the three bands I’ve been in, which is cow-punk, pop rock, and Americana/alt-country. I know that’s not terribly diverse but hey, it’s what I got. It wasn’t intentional off the top to do it this way, but as the songs emerged and were realized in the studio, it was apparent that half of them were rocking and half were ballad-y, so we figured we would sequence as such for vinyl listening. And we are making vinyl copies. What song in your catalogue means the most to you and why? I rate them equally, but I guess one would be the song “Barbies Wedding” [by The Mugworts, Wright’s punk band formed with his brother Geordie] because it’s an apocalyptic anthem about environmental degradation. I swear like a biker throughout, and it felt like I was channeling some demon. The other song would be “The Land of Milk & Honey” [a duet with Harmer from 2003’s Guitar Pickin’ Martyrs], which is a love-y ballad that makes people smile. What has been your most memorable experience while touring in Canada? That’s hard to choose, but there was one night at a festival in Fernie, B.C. at the top of a mountain when the Wrongs played after the Rheostatics, who did a bunch of songs fromNight Of The Shooting Stars, which hadn’t been released yet. We were on a stage across the field and they all came over and danced to our madness that lasted into the wee hours. Then the next morning I met the gypsy band Rant Music and led a parade for all the kids with their fiddler Sara Hart. What is something people might be surprised to learn about you? How can I be honest without sounding pretentious, boring or pathetic? I have a perogie company with my friend Brant up in Wakefield, Quebec, and we make killer, gourmet perogies. Come try them every Thursday night at Kaffe 1870. What are some of the most important lessons you've learned as an independent artist, and what advice would you pass on? My mom used to say that if you want something done right, do it yourself. She also said, never ask someone to do something that you aren’t willing to do yourself. And: What other people think of you is none of your business. Of those three sayings, maybe the last one is a bit of  challenge in this industry, but it’s good to have boundaries between your music and your personal life, otherwise you may get eaten alive. The most apparent observation is that hard work pays off.

Wright Time for Kingston Native and the Wrongs

While it has been seven years since the release of the last Luther Wright and The Wrongs record, it’s not as if frontman Wright stepped away entirely from the music scene. “I was busy playing, and doing everything that I wanted to be doing,” the Kingston native said over the phone from his current home in Wakefield, Que. “And it was just waiting for the album to get focused, to take shape. I’ve made a lot of records over the years, and I didn’t have a current record deal where they were demanding a new album, and, touring wise, the band is a little more casual, so I didn’t really have the obligation to get an album out and keep a bunch of people busy and focused before they moved on to some other band or something, so just sort of had the freedom to take the time.” Luther Wright and The Wrongs, best known for Rebuilding The Wall, their country and bluegrass-inflected reworking of Pink Floyd’s The Wall, release their new record, Hearts and Lonely Hunters, with a hootenanny next Saturday in Westport. In addition to playing as a solo act, Wright has been spending time in recording studios, but on the other side of the glass as a producer. For this record, though, he relented to longtime collaborator and Wolfe Island resident Chris Brown to produce the record, one that they have been “scheming” about since touring the Yukon together a few years back. “It was a different thing for me,” admitted Wright, who has also played in Kingston-born bands The Mugworts and Weeping Tile. “I’ve always been pretty hands-on with every record, every band I’ve ever been in. It all sort of spun from that. Chris and I have been doing music-related things for 25 years, so it was a great offer, and I felt confident comfortable with him having the white hard hat on.” With Wright now living in Wakefield, Brown being a busy producer and The Wrongs scattered about, it took some time for their schedules to align for recording. And, since there wasn’t a record label-imposed deadline looming, Wright and Brown were able to bounce the new numbers off friends, get some feedback and do some tweaking. “I’ve made records in five days, and I’ve made them for two years,” reflected Wright. “At the end of the day, you just want to be completely happy with every note, with every song, and the sequence and the artwork because once it’s done and out, it’s done and out.” Hearts and Lonely Hunters â€" one paid for, in part, through a crowd-funding campaign and features a number of guests, including former Weeping Tile bandmate Sarah Harmer and The Holmes Brothers â€" allowed Wright the freedom to try different sounds in addition to his familiar alt country-Americana sound with signature humour-laced lyrics. This album features tracks with swelling, Bruce Springsteen-esque instrumentation and a little bit of David Bowie (particularly in the catchy One World) in there, too. “With this album, I thought it was a great opportunity to do anything I wanted, and Chris wanted, and orchestration and such. I let my influences show,” Wright suggested, adding that it was often outsiders who heard the similarities. “For sure David Bowie was a big influence as a younger kid. I never thought about it as a songwriter. But Springsteen and that kind of big production, I just know all of that stuff from listening to it for years and years. I didn’t know it affected me so much. So it was kind of fun; I didn’t see it until after we pieced some of the songs together. I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, I can hear my own influences here.’ I wasn’t going into it consciously.” With the album finally completed, Wright’s going to wait and see how the record is received before deciding on what kind of tour to embark upon. After all, the current lineup of The Wrongs â€" original members Dan Curtis (guitar), Sean Kelly (bass) and Cam Giroux (drums), along with Miss Emily (guitars, vocals) and Brown (keyboards) â€" have other commitments, too. “Because I’ve spent the last five or six years getting my solo, duo chops down,” he said, “it allows for me to pick and choose what’s going to work.”

Luther Wright & the Wrongs 'Hearts and Lonely Hunters' CD review

Wakefield is a haven for artists of all kinds; from vagabonds to eccentrics and punks, they fill our hills with culture and dynamism. Kingston native, musician and misfit Luther Wright is no exception, calling Wakefield home for some time now.   It is easy for an artist's reputation to fly under the radar around these parts; in a rural town where residents largely focus on communal affairs, I'd assume that many are unaware of the pioneering path this man has laid in the Canadian music industry.  He was a member of the 90s band Weeping Tile, which was formed by Sarah Harmer, pre-dating her solo career. After they disbanded, Luther went on to form Luther Wright and the Wrongs, who have been influential in carving out the burgeoning alt-country scene in North America.  If you've never heard their country/punkgrass reworking of Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' entitled 'Rebuild the Wall', you should use it as a starting point, then move into exploring the rest of their catalogue.   With 6 albums of well-crafted, alt-country music under the band's belt, the upcoming album, 'Hearts and Lonely Hunters', takes the band in a slightly different direction. It is their first album in 7 years, and it is the first body of work not produced by Luther, a choice that felt natural for the frontman, since it came from a longstanding collaboration with producer Chris Brown. What has resulted is a body of work that sounds a bit fuller; Luther's trademark sound is still present in the more country-tinged songs. But in others, one can hear more pop influence as well as string arrangements, harmonies and keys. Luther's humour and wit remains central to his songwriting, but this time around the frenetic energy of his vocal performance style pauses at times, letting his fans in a bit deeper, and likely to convert the newbies that will cross this musical veteran's performing path.   The quirky album cover was conceptualized by local photographer, David Irvine, and showcases Wakefield famous (and personal favourite) French Bulldog, Wilbur, as well as knick-knacks borrowed from other local eccentrics. Aside from these local contributors, the musical collaborators all come from Kingston and beyond. Legendary blues greats, The Holmes Brothers, having sung with the likes of Odetta and Willie Nelson, and hailing all the way from the state of Virginia, lent their talents to the fantastic track, 'Front Porch'. A personal favourite of mine is 'Elvis', which recounts the story of Luther visiting the King's estate, Graceland, and wandering down a restricted hall, only to come face-to-face with Elvis's nightgowned Aunt!

Luther Wright's New Album Had a Split Personality

Luther Wright’s new album,Hearts and Lonely Hunters(produced by Hugh Christopher Brown) breaks rules and defies categorization. The first half is a pop/rock blend of synth, keys, and fuzzy electric guitars. At Track 8, the album switches to bluegrass and rootsy alt-country, complete with upright bass, banjo, pedal steel, and fiddle. The unconventional approach is not really a surprise, considering Wright’s claim to fame isRebuild The Wall (2001, Universal/Backporch), his ballsy bluegrass interpretation of Pink Floyd’s The Wall that even received Roger Waters' blessing.  Although the album is split in two, common threads of heartbreak and humor weave through it. The lyric-forward vocals are at times emotional and heartbreaking, such as "Broken Yesterdays", where the narrator explains why he "married her instead of you", and the aptly named "Heart's For Breaking". They can also induce laughter and dancing with songs like "Elvis", Wright's ode to The King, sung in the style of Zappa and accompanied by a sparse synth. Halfway through, the tune takes a breath and explodes into a screeching guitar solo, showing off Wright's punk roots (and humor) from The Mugworts years. Wright lends his multiple talents to the album with his clear, high vocals, guitars, bass, synths, percussion, and banjo. Sarah Harmer provides most of the backing vocals, and their beautiful harmonies ring clear on the first song, "Black Mark", "Comeover and Jam", and "Northern". Harmer and Wright have worked together for a couple of decades, starting out as members of the band Weeping Tile. The rest of The Wrongs include: Cam Giroux (drums), Dan Curtis (slide), Sean Kelly (bass/vox), and guest musicians Burke Carroll (pedal steel), Megan Palmer (vox/fiddle), Jason Mercer (banjo/double bass). A handful of other artists helped out on individual songs and are duly mentioned in the liner notes. Hugh Christopher Brown, Wright's producer for Hearts and Lonely Hunters, split production time between The Post Office Studio on Wolfe Island, ON and at Green Door in Brooklyn, NY. In addition to producing, Brown's melodic keys are heard all over this album. Wright speaks of his decision to create this album with Chris at the helm: Wright: Chris and I have been friends for 20 years or so and have organized many shows and tours together as well as recording on a variety of each others projects during that time.  We originally met in Toronto when he was part of the Bourbon Tabernacle Choir and they took Weeping Tile on our first Canadian Tour which turned out to be their last big tour before they moved to New York City and eventually parted ways.  Chris and singer Kate Fenner stayed in the city and made their debut album as a duo, "Other People’s Heavens" after establishing themselves on the scene there. Weeping Tile took them on their first Canadian tour as a duo soon after, and we have continued to contribute to each other's musical endeavors to this day. This album was born out of a tour we did to the Yukon a couple years ago where we were doing music in the schools during the day and playing the taverns and bars at night.  So we were digging pretty deep into the catalog of songs and discovering things about my delivery that he felt, as a producer, I hadn't captured on any of our previous albums. He has a rustic studio on Wolfe Island across from Kingston, Ontario where we beavered away on the project for a year or so until we have what we are listening to today: Hearts and Lonely Hunters.   Aplscruf: What was your rationale behind the genre split on the album? The vinyl listening experience. Side one, then side two. These were the songs I wanted to record, and as there was an even amount of rock and country it seemed only proper to sequence it like that. And it is a bit of a nod to Neil Young's classic album American Stars & Bars which is two different sessions and feels on each side, and which I have worn through two copies over the years playing the shit out of it. Some serious musical magic seems to be flowing out of the Post Office studio on Wolfe Island, including a debut albums from David Corley and Suzanne Jarvie. What makes it so special to record there? It is a magical place in its own way, but I think the musical magic you speak of comes out of Brown. Given the appropriate equipment, I'm sure he could capture it wherever he hangs his hat. That said, getting musicians over to an island with limited access to outside distractions is always a good thing. We have both recorded in big city studios, which is great for take out food and such, but walking out the door on Wolfe Island and wandering by the lake or through the farm fields is perhaps more inspiring than hacking butts in the industrial parking lot of a city studio. No disrespect to city studios intended. In fact for rocking punk music, I kind of enjoy the angular, bunker atmosphere that they can offer. And the take-out food options and wine selection cities have are generally much better. Seven years since your last studio record? Seems like a long time when you say it like that, but in that time I recorded a live album with my friends The Jack Grace Band from NYC and was busy producing albums for other Kingston based artists, as well as the fabulous Rusty Ford's debut album. Not to mention playing piles of shows with the Wrongs or as a duo/solo act. I had demoed about half the songs for the album in that time and when Chris and I got together we used the demos as a base for a bunch of the material. Hence the omnichord and cheesy casio parts that made the final cut. Sometimes when you are demoing songs you try out crazy, spontaneous things that end up really speaking to the song in a way that careful consideration and expensive equipment might not allow.   You worked with The Holmes Brothers on "Front Porch" the first song on Side 2. Tell us about that experience, and the loss of two of their members this year. I had met the Holmes Brothers at Stan Fest in Canso, Nova Scotia back in 2002, but Chris has been friends with the brothers since his days in the Bourbon Tabernacle Choir and was planning a recording session with them in Virgina around the time we recorded Front Porch. Initially is was just gonna be me on banjo and maybe we would add Tony Scherr on bass, but once we started talking about back up vocals Chris thought that he would bring the tune down to the session and see what the brothers thought about it. As you can see they did indeed dig the song and sadly Popsy [Dixon] passed away soon after the session, so it may be one of his last recordings, which is bittersweet. Wendell [Holmes] passed not long after, so it is quite an honour to have these legends of soul/gospel/blues on what may be the best roots song I'll ever write.   I'm always curious how artists stream their songs. What is your music-writing process? Lyrics first? Melody?  I could say a bunch of plausible things to that and maybe your readers would think, "Wow, that guy is deep."  Honestly, I have no idea where songs come from and how it is I do it.  I know sometimes a melody or lyric comes out of a situation and hopefully I write it down or record it quickly (cell phones make that easier!). But there are times when we are jamming and a whole song comes out, and the band looks at me and says what I am thinking, "What the hell was that?". There's a bit in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy where he is learning how to fly. The trick is don't think about it at all and it may happen. You used Indiegogo to offset the costs of production. Is crowdfunding the only way to go these days for independent artists? I wouldn't say it's the only way to go but it is a great development that allows the artists to connect directly with fans and offer a straightforward way to contribute to a specific  project. For us it made it easier to absorb the initial recording expenses and get product and merchandise made in a timely fashion. Also, it helps create excitement about the album as it is being made, so you have a bit of head start on publicity when the album is ready for release.  Any details of the pre-release party at Toronto's Cameron House scheduled for November 25 you'd like to share?  It will be a blast. Original line up of the band plus guests. We start around 8:30-9 and will play the album, then piles of our hits to get the party into overdrive. Check the link for the pre-release party on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/425599180968331/ What's next for you? Are you planning a larger tour any time soon? Another album in the works? We are concentrating on getting this album out there and looking to tour primarily in Europe next year as well as hitting the festival circuit here in Canada if we can get that organized.  There's always another album in the works but that's not a priority until we can see that Hearts and Lonely Hunters gets its proper due.   www.lutherwright.com https://www.facebook.com/Luther-Wright-651855241587626/

Hearts and Lonely Hunters

Luther Wright's musical roots can be traced back to a 1990s jaunt in Kingston, ON-based punk band the Mugworts, but in the years since, he's moved on to something a little more, well, rootsy. Backed by Cam Giroux, Sean Kelly and Dan Curtis, Luther Wright and the Wrongs are set to unveil their latest album Hearts and Lonely Hunters next week, but before its official release, Exclaim! is giving you the chance to hear it in its entirety.     The record was produced by Hugh Christopher Brown, and it features guest vocals courtesy of Wright's former Weeping Tile bandmate Sarah Harmer.     Wright's rebellious country twang is matched with lush strings and accompanying keys, with moments of the musician's punk past giving way to a more emotionally mature heartfelt croon.     Tales of heartbreak ("Heart's for Breaking," "Broken Yesterdays") meld with music about making music ("Comeover and Jam," "Elvis"), existential crises ("Lucifer") and more down-to-earth ditties about everyday life ("Front Porch," "The Parking Lot Song"). Fun at times and heart-wrenching at others, Hearts and Lonely Hunters is a touching set of 13 tunes. 

The Jack Grace Band with Luther Wright Live At The Acoustic Grill

The friendship between Grace, a New Yorker, and Wright, former Weeping Tile guitarist and mastermind behind the Wrongs, is genuine. Both share a skill at painting perfect vignettes with their songs — some humorous, some heartbreaking — but always drawn from real life. This album captures them together on Wright's home turf near Kingston, ON in front of an intimate audience, featuring a stellar guest appearance by Canadian folk legend Dan Whiteley on mandolin. It's essentially a showcase of both Grace and Wright's best material, and since many Canadians might already be acquainted with some of the latter's tunes, such as "Luther's Got the Blues" and "Guitar Pickin' Martyrs," the treat is getting familiar with Grace's deft lyricism on such offerings as "Cigarettes" and "Stayin' Out All Night." The natural interplay between the two makes one wonder what they could do if they truly put their heads together to make an album. But for now, Live At The Acoustic Grill will have to serve as a charming document of what was undoubtedly a special night.

Guitar Pickin' Martyrs

The success of Luther Wright & the Wrongs' 2001 release Rebuild the Wall may have been something of a mixed blessing for the Canadian alt-country act. While it won them a great deal of press and radio attention, and exposed them to a brand-new audience, the album -- a semi-acoustic, bluegrass-influenced interpretation of the songs from Pink Floyd's The Wall -- also had novelty record written all over, no matter how skillful and imaginative the results may have been. For his follow-up, Wright has reasserted himself as a songwriter, and while Guitar Pickin' Martyrs has a few cuts played for a laugh, the wit is nearly always rueful. For all its high spirits and often energetic tempos, the album's dominant theme is a man stuck at the bottom of an emotional well in the wake of heartbreak. "Broken F*%?#@! Heart" wears its witty crankiness on its sleeve, but that doesn't dilute its genuine bitterness, and the more elegant heartbreak of "Land of Milk and Honey" and "Letting Go" mines an eloquent sadness that's real and affecting. The subtle but pin-sharp performances of Wright's backing musicians -- especially Burke Carroll on pedal steel and Megan Palmer on fiddle -- adds greatly to the album's strength. Coupled with Wright's songs, Guitar Pickin' Martyrs proves these folks have a lot more to offer than Pink Floyd covers, though it's an open question if as many people will fork over money to hear Wright and the Wrongs tell their own downbeat tales of dashed hopes and broken hearts.

Bluegrass's New-Age Hootenanny

AN obscure Ontario quintet called Luther Wright and the Wrongs pulls off the improbable on a new album by setting Pink Floyd's 1979 rock opus, ''The Wall,'' to a bluegrass beat. The effect is even more striking on Roger Waters's classic song about British repression, ''Run Like Hell.'' Between the porch-friendly banjo picking and the washboard thumping, the Wrongs turn it into the kind of anthem on persecution that you might imagine hobos humming as they hop coal cars, trying to stay one a step ahead of the law. Sixty-two years after a mandolin-playing Kentucky crooner named Bill Monroe speeded up a song called ''Muleskinner Blues,'' the Wrongs' album is part of a new burst of bluegrass invention. Though the quintuple-platinum sales of last year's ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' soundtrack was supposed to make the genre the next big thing, that hasn't quite happened. Instead, without mainstream radio support, 21st-century bluegrass has been gaining traction through art-house record labels, the summertime festival scene and the hipster glow that bathes old-timers like Ralph Stanley, who's just released his first solo album at the age of 75. The idea for ''Rebuild the Wall'' hit Mr. Wright when he heard the original album's title track on the radio in the band's van, started picking and realized that Mr. Waters's melodies were hiding great country riffs. It isn't a joke. Where the original floated on some distant, emotionally wrought plain, the Wrongs rump and whump, making you want to grab yer girl -- yup, the one with pink hair and a pierced tongue -- and two-step. Or do the Grateful Dead spin. Or mosh. Whatever. Labels don't apply. Far from sounding nostalgic, the music feels urgent, telling listeners that something cool is brewing outside Los Angeles. By covering Pink Floyd, the Wrongs have put themselves in the tradition both of Mr. Monroe, who took ''Muleskinner Blues'' from the bluesman Jimmie Rodgers, and Mr. Waters, who gave the album his personal blessing. They've also shown that there's nothing you can't put in the bluegrass blender. (Witness the tribute albums already out there to the likes of Eric Clapton, U2 and Led Zeppelin. Can ''Tommy'' be far behind?) Bluegrass has a deceptive range. The boisterous banjo, when slowed down, can sound achingly sad. Between those extremes comes the strict timing, close harmonies, soaring solos and absence of background gimmicks (like computer drumbeats or choirs) that lead some aficionados to call it hillbilly jazz. ''It's always appealed to musicians on an intellectual as well as a gut level,'' said John Rumble, the historian of the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. Or as Mr. Monroe himself once put it: ''It's Scotch bagpipes and old-time fiddling, Methodist and Holiness and Baptist, blues and jazz and a high, lonesome sound. It's plain music that tells a good story.'' Top-40 Country radio, however, treats the genre like an eccentric uncle. Lovable, but best in tiny doses. In a National Endowment for the Arts survey in 1997, 42 percent of adults checked the box for bluegrass when asked about their listening preferences. But according to the International Bluegrass Music Association, only 900 stations regularly play it, cramming new material by Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Ricky Skaggs into hourlong specialty shows. Even so, it's getting harder to shoehorn, especially with XM radio, a satellite station, broadcasting a bluegrass-only channel. Alison Krauss, the so-called fiddler fatale of the new traditionalists, won top bluegrass honors at the Grammies last year. ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' took album of the year. And the festival circuit is expected to set records in ticket sales. A new-age band on that circuit, Nickel Creek, uses the basic instruments of bluegrass -- mandolin, fiddle, guitar, bass and banjo -- to veer into classical, jazz and Irish music. Feel free to wonder why bluegrass continues to gain fans without support from commercial radio. Maybe teenagers just getting over their sweet tooth for Britney Spears are taking to bluegrass the same way an earlier generation adopted Goth rock: as a means to faux suffering. If that's the case, the cracked-as-leather wails of Ralph Stanley are made to order. Or maybe it's just the nostalgia industry latching on to the latest revival, which is itself referencing an earlier revival. The album that launched the New-Grass movement, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's ''Will the Circle Be Unbroken,'' just celebrated its 30th birthday with a spot on Amazon.com's top-10 list. But the simplest explanation may be what Mr. Monroe realized all those years ago: that bluegrass music travels as well as a breeze off the Appalachian Mountains.

Climbing over the Wall

Sometimes, a band or an artist so successfully or so uniquely covers someone else's work that the cover song becomes an inherent part of their canon and is identified with them for the length of their career. In Luther Wright's case, though, it wasn't just a single song, but an entire album — a double LP, in fact. At the end of the 20th century, the affable former Weeping Tile guitarist made a startling discovery: Pink Floyd's The Wall was in fact, at its heart, a bluegrass album. Luther Wright and the Wrong's 2001 thesis, Rebuilding the Wall, conclusively hammered home the point. It was both ambitious and audacious, and it attracted a fair bit of attention.

"We went from obscure to relatively known — we shot up to vaguely recognized," Wright acknowledges with typical dry humour. "It doesn't seem to have held me back. Now, it's one of a bunch of records, but it doesn't really have a life expectancy, because it was already a cover of an album that was 20 years old. It comes around. It's rare that we pull out more than a couple of songs. There are so many harmonies and bits and instrumentation parts."

The radical reworking, a concept album about a concept album, got the thumbs up from both Pink and Floyd (OK, Roger Waters and David Gilmour); Bob Ezrin, the producer of the original Wall, sent Wright an enthusiastic email. Rebuilding the Wall was Wright's third album and there have been three more since, including last year's critically acclaimed The Man of Your Dreams, all furthering Wright's unique style, described by roots authority No Depression as "Tunes that split the difference between irreverence and country's traditions, a balancing act pulled off with panache." Wright counters: "I'm very happy being recognized for not being a complete smart-ass."

For the past five years or so, the Wrongs have become more of a fluid collective. "Once you're in, you're never out, so everybody that's ever played in the band still sort of plays from time to time," Wright explains while on his way to Guelph, for the first of a 26-show tour. This time out, he's touring with New York's Jack Grace Band, which, conveniently, doubles up as the new Wrongs. Wright and the band have been helping to grow each other's audiences on both sides of the border.

"We've been hooked up for a couple of years, booking each other back and forth," Wright says. "We're North-Americanizing the indie country roots."

By the time the bands hit Calgary, they should be hitting their stride, hosting the Ship jam in the afternoon and laying claim to the new Ironwood in the evening. Wright figures they have more than enough tunes to play three sets without repeating themselves   this summer, he plans to head into the studio with The Jack Grace Band and whichever Wrongs are available to record his seventh disc, which will include covers of songs by his friends, like Carolyn Mark, Shuyler Jansen and Hank and Lilly. Still, Wright doesn't see any high concept in the immediate future.

"It was such a specific thing," he says. "It wasn't like, 'Let's do a concept record!' It was like, 'Hey, The Wall's a bluegrass record, we should do this,' and then we're such a bunch of cocky smart-asses, we talked about it and decided to make it a reality. I do like the idea of concept records and I actually consider my last couple albums somewhat conceptual, you know, the concept of heartache."

Would he ever consider another such mega-project?

"We're probably too lazy," he says. "It would have to be pretty inspiring. It's a lot of work."

Man Of Your Dreams

As one of the driving forces behind the annual cross-Canada Hootenanny tour, Wright has assembled this latest album in a similar fashion, drawing upon a host of Canadian roots talent like Dan and Jenny Whiteley, as well as his old Weeping Tile partner Sarah Harmer. Yet, unlike some of his previous solo outings, Man Of Your Dreams finds Wright concentrating on the emotional impact of the songs, rather than simply showing off his band’s bluegrass chops. The emphasis is clearly on heartbreak, and even if the message of the opening title track comes off as tongue-in-cheek, the exploration of the theme continuously gets deeper on “Things Twice” and “Wooden Dreams,” until by closing track “All The Glory” there’s a sense that some kind of love lesson has been proffered. Since the album itself only clocks in at 30 minutes, it’s an easy lesson to digest, and Wright’s typically unadorned, back porch production style adds a lot of homespun charm. Man Of Your Dreams may not provide the rough-edged roots rock that some fans of the genre expect, but it is an accurate reflection of the Hootenanny community that continues to grow each time out.

Man of Your Dreams

Dropping The Wrongs for his new record, Kingston cowpoke songsmith Luther Wright is still trying to outrun his wildly successful, song-for-song, country/bluegrass cover of Pink Floyd's The Wall from a few years back.  Standing in the shadow is a grad-A word weaver and musician, as on Man of Your Dreams, where Wright focuses on the age-old dude issue of love gone wrong in pop and rock formats to complement his more C&W and honky-tonk leanings.

Man of Your Dreams

Absent here are his longstanding backing band the Wrongs, and thankfully Kingston, ON's Luther Wright has also rolled back the hee-haw hayseed caricature that overshadowed the obvious talent that laid behind it.  Production does get a bit spotty with vocals lurching instead of knowing their place in the mix, but the Neil Young sway of "Twin Butte Alberta" is pure bliss while the George Jones inspired "The Pushing and the Pace" proves that Wright is doing just fine out on his own.

Friday On My Mind: Banjo Jim Is Everywhere

"A Canadian staple at Banjo Jim’s that showcases smart, sassy, downhome twang and so many good songs, hooks, and lyrics that ye olde “criminally ignored” lamentations applied to most everything I heard. Wright himself is a beacon of alt-country silliness and a serious songsmith who deserves iPod commercials and beaucoup opportunities to sell his wares to the highest corporate bidder."   

Roger's Waltz

Luther Wright and the Wrongs
Roger's Waltz
DROG Records

This is Luther Wright's second country CD. You might recognize him as that skinny guitar player in Weeping Tile. You might have heard his first CD, Hurtin' for Certain, which I thought was pretty weak, especially compared to this one. Hurtin just sounded like an incomplete and unmasterful attempt in a genre someone wasn't really familiar with. Like city folks doing country music. With one under their belt, mayhap some lessons been learned, cuz this one sounds full and rich and sincere. The band on both records has been some fine musicians, but on "Roger's Waltz" there's more room for everyone, some things are done just plain simple, and where there needs to be lots of layers of acoustic sounds it sounds like they hit the right marks. It isn't until the third song that we hear Sarah Harmer's clear and perfectly complimentary harmonies, which is really nice restraint. "Celia" is a fine country song. You'll find Luther's voice is warm and trusting, and his sad stories, like the title track, are finely wrenching. "Roger's Waltz" is a little like "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda," which is fine company.

Luther Wright and the Wrongs (Snakeye Muzak)

Instrumentality harks back to the days when country backing groups (Buck Owens's Buckeroos or Merle Haggard's Strangers) would release instrumental albums without their respective leaders to show the talents of the musicians. Using a similar mode, this disc is a cut-and-paste of killer licks and ripping jams. Filmmaker Ron Mann asked Wright to compose a song for his doc Go Further, but Wright didn't stop there he jammed out enough tracks to make this release. Instrumentality is packed with marvellous jams that reek of a good time hootenanny, and is essential for fans of Americana.

Instrumentality

I listened to this CD three times to try to figure out why country punk player Luther Wright decided to do an album so highly influenced by American traditional music, including new remakes of classic tunes like Coloured Aristocracy and George M. Cohan’s Yankee Doodle Dandy. Wright takes this music to places it probably ought to go simply by providing his own perspective, which is completely different from an old fogy folkie like me. In the end I decided that this collection was created simply for the fun of doing this. I like the mix of traditional and contemporary music on this CD because it’s original, alive and proves that music isn’t something that should live under glass and be examined by enthno-musicologists. This is fun listening. Wright has recruited some amazing studio players including two of the most respected players in old-time and bluegrass circles, Chris Coole and Dan Whitely. All in all, this is a neat project and I’m looking forward to seeing this on stage.
– By Mitch Podolak

Hootenanny Revue

Hey there folks. Last weekend was the annual Wolfe Island Music Fest. The lineup was ridiculously good this year - so good that WIMF is giving Hillside a run for its money. And at a fraction of the price no less! With an added bonus of getting to ride on a ferry! Seriously mark your calendars for next year, it is that good. But, for the second year running I have been unable to attend the main day of fun. Stupid summertime obligations. As expected, all reviews that I have seen said this year's event was outstanding.

Knowing that I wouldn't be in the area on Saturday, I made sure that I got to see the Friday night Town Hall concert, the Hootenanny Revue. I missed the Hootenanny when it previously swung through town and I am very glad that I got to attend this time.

The Hootenanny is somewhat hard to explain. It is equal parts bluegrass, gospel revival, and cabaret, with a dash of indie rock. They call it Cowpunk, which I think is quite fantastic. I am not a fan of most country music, particularly what would be considered mainstream country, but I nevertheless like the type of music made by the Hootenanny All-stars. It is more "alt." than what I would consider most alt-country. It is much more bluegrassy. These folks aren't just adopting the sonic tools of bluegrass and traditional, olde-tyme country music as a novelty, however, they are the real deal. Everything we saw was authentic, passionate, and fun.

It was a revolving cast of exceptionally talented folks each taking turns at the mic and switching instruments as duty called. When not onstage they watched and danced right up front. There were five distinct performers/groups on the bill - Carolyn Mark, Luther Wright, Jenny Whiteley, Shuyler Jansen, and Salt- with a Dan Whiteley on mandolin and Diona Davies on fiddle, and Tolan McNeil on guitar, as well as a drummer, Michael Silverman. There was also a special guest appearance by Chris Brown and Kate Fenner. They backed each other up, sang harmonies and duets and by no means were they done once they sang their three or four songs in each set. Everyone brought something unique to the act whether they were the feature at the time or serving as backup.

The crowd was a very interesting mix of country fans, old folks, Wolfe Islanders, kids, and hipsters but I think it is safe to say that everyone was having a good time. They particularly liked the upbeat songs which lent themselves to dancing. The slower, softer numbers found many people's attention wandering. The people standing at the back were exceptionally chatty through pretty much the whole damn thing. I remain mystified why they didn't go just outside the hall where it was cooler, you could still hear the music and where the beer tent was located. At anyrate fun was had. At the end, after Jenny Whiteley sang "Circus is in Town" a capella as the others packed everything away (what was with that one chick in the audience screeching?), the Hootenanny All-Stars led a conga line out of the hall where fireworks were let off. Aside from my slight uneasiness out of fear that they might burn the church down (they did seem to be landing quite close) it was a pretty fantastic way to end the evening.

Wolfe Island was the last stop on the Revue's tour but I highly recommend you catch them if they roll through your town the next time the Hootenanny hits the road.

Guitar Pickin' Martyrs

Tear down the wall! While their previous outing, the back porch interpretation of Pink Floyd’s The Wall, was certainly a successful realisation of one of the weirdest ideas in music history, its cleverness left Wright & the Wrongs at risk of being tossed in the novelty category. In fact, the former Weeping Tile guitarist and co. are a damn good band, and take full advantage of displaying that fact here. “I like that hillbilly music, the kind you don’t hear on the radio,” Wright proclaims during “The Race To The Top” and that’s pretty much what’s offered throughout Guitar Pickin’ Martyrs. The light-hearted spirit of Rebuild The Wall is consistently maintained, but the year spent touring in support of it shows in the fiery playing of guitarist Dan Curtis and pedal steel player Olesh Maximew. On many tracks they sound as if they’re directly channelling Buck Owens’ Buckaroos, but it is Wright’s wry lyrics that are the icing on the cake. “Broken F!@# Heart,” and the title track would become instant roadhouse classics in a perfect world, although Wright shows his sensitive side with “Milk & Honey,” a duet with Sarah Harmer, and closer “The Settling Dust.” Rebuild The Wall was fun for a while, but GPM is built to last much longer.

Guitar Pickin' Martyrs

Luther Wright and the Wrongs — Snakeye Muzak/Universal
 
 

CD review - Guitar Pickin' Martyrs

Luther Wright has got some serious heart problems. While the literal—minded might see the Sacred Heart aflame on the cover of his latest album, Guitar Pickin‘ Martyrs,and think Wright and his backing band, the Wrongs, are suffering from heartburn, they‘d be wrong. And ignorant —— heartburn has nothing to do with one‘s heart. Ha. But I digress. Wright‘s problems are more along the lines of the metaphorical; namely, he‘s got a broken heart. Throughout Martyrs, Wright proves himself to be a fool for love, time and again having his heart raked over the coals. Sure, he gets wiser with every heartache, but he never learns his lesson.

It‘s all to the listeners‘ benefit, though. Wright can‘t be a guitar pickin‘ martyr, singing songs about heartbreak, if he knows nothing of the topic. Song titles alone —— “Broken Fuckin‘ Heart“, “I‘m Not Okay“, and “Not Feeling Fine“ —— should be proof enough that Wright‘s an authority on love gone wrong, but he and his band drape their songs in plaintive steel guitar, banjo, and fiddle. Even if English is Greek to you, the Wrongs just sound like hopeless romantics.

But if you understand English —— and the odds are pretty good, since you‘re reading this —— then Guitar Pickin‘ Martyrs reveals even more delicate lyrical treats. Some are a little too sweet: The barroom swing of “Devious Dissembler“ nearly gets derailed by the titular character‘s “Bishop Desmond Tutu curly hair“ (granted, a keen observation, but: Huh?) and five—dollar words like “subservience“ and “clandestine“ fall thickly off Wright‘s tongue. Fortunately, despite (or because of) Wright‘s unpretentious (read: plain) voice, most words and phrases drip from his mouth like warm honey. “I get a hard—on or cry at the drop of a hat“, he notes on “Not Feeling Fine“. Even though the man‘s heart hurts like hell, Wright‘s still got a sharp sense of humor —— like a true romantic.

Elsewhere, Wright‘s keen wit shine through: “If looks could really kill then I‘d be dead / You‘d be in jail behind bars making license plates for cars“ he tells an ex—lover on the newgrassy “Broken Fuckin‘ Heart“ (ain‘t that the worst kind?) and on “Darlin‘“, Wright‘s lovesick narrator recognizes that even if his girlfriend who treats him like shit “stand[s] me up / I‘m still ahead of all the chumps you never knew and that‘s the truth“. Wright‘s characters all realize that they are powerless in the face of love, no matter how wrong it is, and they might as well roll with the punches. And just to make sure there‘s no confusion over Wright‘s theory that we can‘t control who we fall in love with, Guitar Pickin‘ Martyrs‘ liner notes feature cheesy clip art drawings of Cupid —— the real culprit in all this lovely mess.

Of course, an album called Guitar Pickin‘ Martyrs has its fair share of nifty guitar work, and I‘d be remiss if I didn‘t mention it. Dan Curtis, a triple threat on electric guitar, lap steel, and banjo, gets most of the deserved accolades, though Chris Quinn‘s banjo solo on “My Heart, My Heart“ gets my vote for the album‘s best. Wright must hate to be lonely, because there are 13 musicians credited in Martyrs‘ liner notes, but there‘s not a wasted note from any of them. Hell, there‘s even a guy (Spencer Evans) playing clarinet on “Darlin‘“.

An album with a title like Guitar Pickin‘ Martyrs arrives on shelves with a built—in audience, but anybody who has had a broken heart (and likes to revel in the misery of brokenheartedness) will find something to relate to on Martyrs. And those who first learned of Wright from his Pink Floyd re—imagination, Rebuilding the Wall, will be pleased to see that Wright is more than just a one—trick pony. If you‘re one of the lucky (?) few to be spared heartache, then enjoy the rocking tunes. Or, in Wright‘s terms, from “Race to the Top“: “That hillbilly music... you don‘t hear on the radio“.

CD review - Guitar Pickin' Martyrs

I love the title of this CD, and I love this band.

Most of the work here is original and has that lovely, fresh feeling of not being over—influenced by any awe of the past masters. The opening track, “Wish Me Well,“ sets the tone and we go on an upward curve from there.

I particularly like the writing on “Devious Dissembler.“ Can you not love a title like that? The pace is steadied for “Land of Milk and Honey“ and shows that the Wrongs can deliver a beautiful ballad with the best of them. Maybe it‘s the influence of Sarah Harmer. She also joins Luther on vocal for “Race to the Top,“ where the old—time yodelling brings back a bygone age.

The old time country stars would never have released the next track —— purely because it would never get airplay. “Broken F****** Heart“ is an excellent song and can be very realistic but I doubt if it will be heard on many radio sets even in 2004. This is a pity because there is great rhythm and inspired lyrics.

There are any number of strong pieces on this album. They are strong in the sense of top—class compositions, but also in that some of the lyrics may require parental advisory notices.

Another heart song, “My Heart, My Heart,“ has the potential to be a great single hit. It gets your feet tapping and heart pounding, as a good hillbilly track should. In the old days of single releases, the ideal b—side to the single would have been “Darlin‘“ —— even if the lyrics were a bit risque on close listening.

There is one cover version here and it is well worth it. Hold on to your hat and play track 12 at full volume, “It‘s Mighty Dark to Travel.“ The final track, “The Settling Dust,“ is another fine contribution and is well worth giving your attention to.

I enjoyed this CD immensely; there is some great writing and playing featured and I hope that many more people manage to hear this work. The insert with lyrics is very good.

CD review - Guitar Pickin' Martyrs

It is nice to see a record label actually give a band whose first real commercial success was a quality kitsch remake of one of the best selling and enigmatic albums of all time a crack at defining its own sound on an album slated for major distribution. But on Luther Wright and the Wrongs‘ latest LP, Guitar Pickin‘ Martyrs, it is clear that Virgin Records‘ own home country label, Back Porch, gave no dramatic artistic license.

Anyone who likes every other banjo—heavy, alt—nouveau country act that gets college radio air time will like Martyrs. Those who only like the Wrongs‘ bluegrass remake of Pink Floyd‘s The Wall — with its unique ability reconcile both nostalgic remembrance of that first bong hit as a thirteen—year—old with a newfound hipster love of Johnny Cash — will surely feel this album falls short. And those out there who thought that Rebuilding the Wall could really have use more Earl Scruggs—style hard—core banjo pickin‘ will feel equally cheated.

But somewhere in the between those two extremes lies the perfect audience for this album. Its well—produced and easy listening melodies are sure to be a hit for the cheap beer, back porch crowd, as well as the “I‘m just getting into this hillbilly music“ bunch. Martyrs is about as user friendly as an alternative contemporary country album can get, and these guys seem like they would make great drinking buddies, but let not the album title fool you — no guitars or banjos were hurt during production.