9097 - ROADHOUSE (3) - BROKEN LAND (2006) (REPOST)
ROADHOUSE (3)
''BROKEN LAND''
2006
61:32
1 - White Water/5:04
2 - Sacrifice/5:48
3 - The Big Easy/5:26
4 - Redemption Street/5:31
5 - All Along The Watchtower/6:40
6 - Broken Land/5:50
7 - Pulp Fiction 2/4:30
8 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For/4:49
9 - Mexican Nights/4:49
10 - Knocking On Heavens Door/5:36
11 - Last Train Home/7:26
REVIEW
By Nick Dalton Maverick
Triumph from Britain’s leading country rockers
The London roots rockers who never stand still release another album with yet another line-up. They get through guitarists faster than Rod Stewart gets through wives. Yet that does mean they're always on edge, always pushing forward. Some might have felt that losing British guitar prodigy Jules Fothergill could be a setback but mainmain Gary Boner has found an excellent (and very different) replacement in Canadian Drew Barron.
The songs are still a raging country-roots blend of imagery – rivers, trains, desolate countryside – but the textures are different again, Barron bringing a softer, mystical feel up against Boner's rock jangle.
Roadhouse’s trademark twin girl singers – more than backing vocals, sometimes soloists but always there like a wind whistling around the Boner/Barron twin guitar attack – are still there. Yet different – one of the band?s earliest members, Mandie G, has returned, joined by newcome Fiona McElroy, the latter taking centre stage on the choogling, spine-tingling rocker Still Haven't Found.
The set kicks off with a classic Roadhouse rampage, White Water, great tune, great guitars and male-female vocals winding around each other.
The rhythm section of Roger Hunt and Bill Hobley (band originals along with Boner) are darker and dirtier than ever as they tackle moody originals like Pulp Fiction and the West Coast-sounding The Big Easy. What?s also impressive is how the band manage to take what some might see as a hoary covers and turn them around. All Along The Watchtower becomes a bleak barroom workout, complete with smokey sax by Fred Schmid. And Knocking On Heaven's Door The Spanish guitar driven Mexican Nights is a new approach for the band before they return to familiar ground for the rampant finale Last Train Home. A killer record from a band who deserve to be much bigger.
OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY
Roadhouse was formed in 1991 by Gary Boner, ably assisted throughout by the driving bass of Bill Hobley and the the powerful drumming of Roger Hunt. Seizing on an eclectic mix of influences from Lynyrd Skynyrd to Creedence Clearwater Revival, the band has developed a sound all of its own. In the words of a recent Blues Matters review: “They veer towards the rocky side of the Blues, but are clearly Blues based and play in a punchy style with musicianship of the highest quality”.
Having played over 1,500 gigs in the years since (more than 800 of which have been on the London circuit) the band have kept their sets consistently thrilling, mainly thanks to prolific songwriting from Boner and a carefully tailored mix of original and cover material. The band’s gig diary is peppered with dates at many prestigious venues, such as The Marquee, The Cartoon, The Borderline, The Worcester Park Club – and the band recently enjoyed lengthy residencies at The Bulls Head in Barnes, a renowned Blues and Jazz Club currently celebrating it’s 50th year of live music, and The Torrington in North Finchley. Over the last 24 months, Roadhouse have also played at many major Blues festivals, including The Guiness Blues Festival, Castlebar, Ireland; The Merton Abbey Mills Blues Festival, London; The Boogaloo Blues Festival, Bognor; The Isle Of Wight Blues Festival, Norton Grange; The Colne Blues Festival, Lancashire; The Festival of Blues and Rock, Skegness. 2004 has seen reappearances by the band at Colne and the MRA Hickling Blues Festival, amongst others.
The band has also built up a successful routine of album releases, having recorded and released six albums independently since 1995. Since signing to the Blues Matters! record label in 2003, a live album Roadhouse & Friends was released in January 2004, followed by the band’s latest studio album No Place To Hide in May 2004 – to an overwhelmingly positive reaction. “The whole CD is a wonderful and varied collection of songs played to the highest standard by a group of fine musicians. It deserves to take the band on to a higher level. I strongly recommend it” – Blues Matters! Magazine review.
The previously released albums have all been featured favourably on both National and International radio stations, including Paul Jones’ JazzMeBlues show on JazzFM, BBC Radio Lancashire, ResonanceFM, KJLU Missouri, KXJZ California, KEGR San Francisco, and others in many countries including Australia, Denmark, Italy, Croatia and Macedonia.
Over the years, the band has toured and supported with several renowned Blues “names” including Mick Taylor (Rolling Stones), Eric Bell (Thin Lizzy), Paul Jones (Manfredd Mann/The Blues Band), Otis Grand, 9 Below Zero, The Pirates, Stan Webb’s Chicken Shack, Walter Trout, and The Yardbirds. Having received such good reaction at these and their own gigs, the band now has a computerised mailing list, sending newsletters to over 1,100 recipients spanning 7 different countries.
In October 2005, 4 new musicians joined the Roadhouse family, the latest additions being Canadian guitarist Drew Barron, and vocalists Mandie G, Fiona McElroy, and Suzie Dingle. This band recorded the album “Broken Land” in early 2006 to critical acclaim.
TO THE TOP