Now & Then: Swamp Dogg’s Swamp Dogg Contemplates The Afterlife and the reach of Solomon Burke’s Don’t Give Up on Me
Swamp Dogg’s Swamp Dogg Contemplates The Afterlife belongs in the long line of soul records where age sharpens the writing instead of softening it. The album looks at mortality, memory, belief, and unfinished business with the plain speech that has always made Swamp Dogg hard to categorize. A useful earlier reference is Solomon Burke’s 2002 album Don’t Give Up on Me, a late-career soul record that gave an older singer room to use experience as the central instrument.
David G. Smith – Hero Street This set gets off to a dark start with the serious ballad “Hero Street,” sung in a near-narrative style of Ramblin’ Jack Elliott with a sharp storytelling approach. Smith has a strong folky voice on his 12th album. Acoustic folk-blues that explore heavy themes. Smith includes veterans & their […]
BJ Barham and River Shook are two of my favorite live acts – whenever they bring their bands through Denver, I’ll cancel pretty much everything else to be there. With both of them releasing albums on the same day – Barham with American Aquarium’s New Ways to Lose, and Shook with their self-titled first solo […]
