Kieran Kane - Somewhere Beyond the Roses

An album doesn’t have to have great lyrics for me to connect with it. A good song doesn’t need to possess deep meaning for me to enjoy it. In fact there is nothing more formulaic and boring than a guy with an acoustic guitar pretending to hold the meaning of life. However, when I come across an album with lyrics that have a genuine and distinctive reflection on life I develop a spiritual connection that goes beyond the music. That is the way I feel about the new Kieran Kane release Somewhere Beyond the Roses. It would be great if it stopped there; but in this case the instrumentation and arrangement of the songs makes the album one of the top releases of the year. Kane has been cranking out the brilliance in the last several years both as a solo artist and with Kane, Welch and Kaplan. However, with this release Kane is playing his trump card.

To begin with it is hard to even adequately describe the style of his banjo playing it is so eclectic. He combines this on the songs with a Baritone Sax that hearkens back to the alternative rock band Morphine. Deanna Varagona (Lambchop) supplies this baritone sax, Richard Bennett (Neil Diamond, Mark Knopfler) is on electric guitar, and Lucas Kane (Kane’s son and contributor to Kane, Welch, Kaplin) is on drums. David Olney provides backing vocals on “Don’t Try To Fight It” and Fats Kaplin plays steel guitar on “Unfaithful Heart”. The unusual banjo and Sax combination gives the music complexity even though the production is stripped down and raw. In almost perfect harmony with this minimalist yet edgy instrumentation the lyrics are infused with a raw spirituality. The spirituality is earthy. There is nothing esoteric about the lyrics. They are deep and infused with timeless truth.

Sample Tracks

Kieran Kane, Kevin Welch, Fats Kaplin - Kane Welch Kaplin

Kieran Kane, Kevin Welch, Fats Kaplin will be releasing a new album on September 11, the album is self titled Kane Welch Kaplin. Not exactly a creative title but after the first listen it is obvious they spent their time making the album not naming it. Their previous album Lost John Dean went number one on the Americana charts. So they have a lot to live up to and they succeed. In fact, I expect the new album will also spend some time at number one.

Like the last album this album is very rootsy with heavy folk, blues and gospel leanings. This time however they have added a fourth member. Fortunately they did not have to rename the band because it is Kieran's son Lucas Kane on percussion. Kane and Welch's history from Dead Reckoning Records allows them to mesh together even though their voices seem contrasting. It is the songwriting that is the glue that holds things together. If the songwriting adds cohesion, then Kaplin's musicianship gives the record its soul. Apparently Kaplin has a tendency to work whatever instruments that happen to be lying around into songs. That tendency gives the album its improvisational feel.

The songs come at you from a lot of different directions. There are Blues and Gospel numbers as well as story songs that weave a tapestry that is a little darker than their previous work. For example, "Dark Boogie # 7" is a spoken word folktale that goes inside the head of a mentally ill murderer. A more uplifting song is the closer "What are They Doing in Heaven Today," which was put on the album because all three have lost their moms in the last few years.

Sample the songs at:
http://compassrecords.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=520

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