As you would expect from two artists who have considerable
media experience, Eric Brace and Peter Cooper have once again demonstrated that
uncanny knack of delivering a product straight into the approval arms of those
music critics seeking a little sophistication. The two stalwarts of the East
Nashville alt-country scene have utilised their own talents and engaged with
some esteemed contributors to record an album brimful of articulate storytelling
and sublime musicianship. As well as creating an intelligently designed
listening experience, the duo has skilfully packaged a product that subtly adds
value thus ensuring an effective engagement with their target audience.
THE COMEBACK ALBUM is a tongue in cheek title as, although
it’s only the third album since Eric Brace and Peter Cooper decided to
formalise their collaboration as a recording act in 2004, the pair are also extremely
active in other projects. Peter Cooper regularly crops up in the UK in his role
as a highly regarded contributor to The Tennessean publication when the BBC
requires an insight into the country music scene. Eric Brace is heavily
involved in the Red Beet Record label which he founded and owns, and it also
provided the mechanism to get this album made.
Eric and Peter, as well as producing the record, are the
lyrical architects behind nine of the twelve tracks with seven being co-writes.
‘Kissing Booth’ is solely credited to
Eric due to it being an old track from his Last Train Home band who played
the Maverick festival a couple of years ago. Peter teamed up with Baker
Maultsby to pen a narrative based account of Boss Hall, Spartanburg, South
Carolina titled ‘Thompson Street’,
with it containing a neat accordion intro.
The enlisting of the services of legendary pedal steel
guitarist Lloyd Green has paid dividends with his trademark twang adorning the
Karl Straub nostalgic number ‘Carolina’
as well as ‘Ponzi Scheme’ and the delightful ‘She Can’t Be Herself’. This last track
portrays Eric and Peter as masters of the sad love song and is one of the album’s
standout tracks alongside the beautiful country waltz like David Halley song ‘Rain Just Falls’.
To enhance their version of the Tom T Hall song ‘Mad’, the pair persuaded three icons of Americana
music to lend their talents. Bluegrass veteran Mac Wiseman supplied support vocals,
guitar contribution came from no other but Duane Eddy, while the highly
versatile Marty Stuart provided mandolin and extra vocals. This amazing
performance epitomizes Eric’s and Peter’s approach to making music and the
track has already been played on the Bob Harris Country show.
Further evidence of the smart and eloquent output from the
duo is found in the keyboard and pedal steel inspired ‘Johnson City’ which recalls Eric’s non-negotiable brief visit to
the town’s jail. Both ‘Ancient History’
and ‘Nobody Knows’ carry on the
intellectual theme with constant name checking weaving around the clever
melodies. Any baseball context in the lyrics intensifies my listening and
references to Babe Ruth and the Baltimore Orioles appear in these tracks. The
diversity of the music content continues with some fiddle enhancing the track ‘Boxcars’ and a little clarinet adding a
brass flavour to ‘Sailor’.
It is this holistic approach
to music making that continues to grow the reputation of Eric Brace and Peter
Cooper who will be promoting the album in the UK for a few dates in June. So if
you like your country music with a left field Americana tinge then THE COMEBACK
ALBUM will suit you down to the ground.
www.redbeetrecords.com
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