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Song Dogs<\/i> is a collection of eleven songs \u2013 8 originals plus 3 well-chosen and relatively obscure covers \u2013 sung and played by Asheville-based singer-songwriter-guitarist Taylor Martin.<\/p>\nSong Dogs<\/i> is a collection of eleven songs \u2013 8 originals plus 3 well-chosen and relatively obscure covers \u2013 sung and played by Asheville-based singer-songwriter-guitarist Taylor Martin.<\/p>\n
By definition, Song Dogs<\/i> doesn’t fit neatly into any one genre classification. There\u2019s a kind of good-natured yet world-weary vibe to these songs, one that calls to mind the literate yet accessible work of John Hiatt. On \u201cHere Comes the Flood\u201d (not the Peter Gabriel song), Martin\u2019s raspy yet assured vocals work well set against the backdrop of lush instrumentation and chorus. The track is an exemplar of Martin\u2019s writing, and the song\u2019s arrangement is simply superb. An entire album of songs in this style would make for a highly enjoyable listening experience.<\/p>\n
But Martin has more on his mind; \u201cEden Colorado,\u201d for example, is a spare and gentle work that strips away the full-band aesthetic of \u201cHere Comes the Flood,\u201d instead presenting some nicely picked acoustic guitar alongside Matthew Smith\u2019s delightfully evocative pedal steel guitar.<\/p>\n
Martin\u2019s reading of Neil Young\u2019s \u201cMusic Arcade\u201d (originally on Young\u2019s 1996 album Broken Arrow<\/i>) splits the difference between those two approaches. The song features subtle, solid backing highlighted by Lyndsay Pruett\u2019s fiddle.<\/p>\n
An almost classical aesthetic \u2013 presumably achieved by massive overdubbing of Pruett\u2019s violin to create a string section \u2013 forms the lush foundation of \u201cSecond Sight.\u201d Taylor\u2019s voice stands in stark contrast with the instrumental backing, but the difference between those aural textures is effective in the context of the song.<\/p>\n
\u201cHollywood\u201d departs almost completely from any kind of Americana-leaning textures, with Matthew Dufon turning in a bass solo; Josh Shilling\u2019s Wurlitzer piano adds some nice tone color as well. An Americana feel is central, however, to \u201cOur Memories.\u201d Martin sings a pretty melody in his hoary voice, with Platt adding sweet vocal harmonies on the choruses. Once again, the use of pedal steel elevates an already sturdy tune.<\/p>\n
Merle Haggard\u2019s \u201cKern River\u201d gets a treatment that combines the best of Appalachian folk and \u201ccountrypolitan\u201d Nashville pop of the 1960s. If one ever wondered what it might sound like if Tom Waits made a country record, this song provides a clue. The Martin\/Platt duet \u201cMilk and Honey\u201d highlights Aaron Ramsey\u2019s sprightly mandolin, making its only appearance on the record.<\/p>\n
One thing that Song Dogs<\/i> doesn\u2019t do (much) is rock. A mild exception is Martin\u2019s cover of Bob Dylan\u2019s \u201cSign on the Window.\u201d The tune \u2013 originally heard on Dylan\u2019s 1970 LP New Morning<\/i> \u2013 builds upon the soulful sound of acts like Delaney & Bonnie, early Joe Cocker and The Band; in Martin\u2019s capable hands it sounds and feels like an ideal concert set-closer.<\/p>\n
Shilling\u2019s piano and Smith\u2019s pedal steel work together to form the basis of the mournful and contemplative title track, Song Dogs<\/i>\u2019 actual set closer. Here, Martin sounds world-weary with just a glimmer of hopefulness in his voice. The pedal steel solo that rounds out the tune helps make \u201cSong Dogs\u201d a real weeper, in the best sense of the term.<\/p>\n
Critical to the success of Song Dogs<\/i> is its production. Amanda Anne Platt displays her mastery of the studio as a creative tool; the sparkle and polish on display here does exactly what it should do: showcase the musical assets of the artist. Working closely with Martin and studio owner Robert George, Platt has crafted a finely-tune album in which each song has been carefully arranged and completed so that it can stand on its own. But a larger success of the album is that the album still feels like a cohesive whole.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Song Dogs is a collection of eleven songs \u2013 8 originals plus 3 well-chosen and relatively obscure covers \u2013 sung and played by Asheville-based singer-songwriter-guitarist Taylor Martin. By definition, Song […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16175,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,51,65],"tags":[237,3734],"class_list":["post-16174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-release","category-pop","category-review","tag-asheville","tag-taylor-martin","cat-49-id","cat-51-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16174"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16176,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16174\/revisions\/16176"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}