Troy Redfern - Invocation

He keeps surprising me, does Troy Redfern.  Being honest, every time he pops up, I get ready to write him off as just another one-dimensional latterday heavy metal thunderer.  But then I give something a listen and think:  “Actually, that’s quite good.”
And so it goes as the opening three tracks unfurl on his new album Invocation.  ‘The Strange’ bursts into life with trampolining drums’n’bass and Redfern’s swooping slide, and after easing back for the first verse, crashes into a not ‘arf catchy chorus.  Redfern adds a zinging slide solo, and a subtle (sorta) bridge adds some extra gloss.  Nice work, gang.  A rattle of drums announces ‘Getaway’, and then it explodes into life with a cracking riff – subterranean and seismic, then punctuated with a couple of splashes of colour.  It’s elevated by another earworm

Troy Redfern - not cast in The Hobbit

Pic by Jason Bridges

of a chorus, given a lift by a couple of neck-snapping delayed chords, while Redfern’s screeching solo is rammed home by the piledriving combination of Dave Marks’ bass and Paul Stewart’s drums. Then ‘Van Helsing’ arrives, with just chiming guitar under the verse apart from some sporadic, crunching chord interjections, in readiness for another belting hook.  I’m telling you folks, it’s “Bop-along-with-Troy time”!
There are a couple of points worth underlining here.  First, underneath all the stürm und drang, Redfern has quite the pop sensibility going on between his ears, reminding me now and then of the tunesmithery of Supergrass, say.  And secondly, the bass playing of producer Dave Marks doesn’t just bring power, it elevates matters with its harmonic qualities.
And so things progress with the moody, dynamic ‘The Calling’, which in places – like Redfern’s intriguing, spacey slide solo – brings to mind the off-kilter vibe of Muse.  ‘Native’, with its American-Indian rhythm (at least as we’ve learned it from the movies) goes even further down the crepuscular atmospheric route, and is really all about the vibe, until the churning crescendo through which Redfern’s slide cuts like a butcher’s knife.
Stewart’s tub-thumping drums bring a glam-rock undertow to ‘The Fever’, with its pleasing staccato riff, and then, right on cue – yes, handclaps!  There should be more of ‘em, Troy – and a bleedin’ cowbell too!  But still, that “Holding me, you’re holding me down” hook does burrow its way into your noggin.  And the same is true of the simple but effective chorus on ‘All Night Long’, a turbo-charged rocker which pretty much strips down the riff to Whitesnake’s ‘Sweet Talker’ and then hits the gas pedal.
‘Blind Me’ is, blimey, an almost romantic slowie.  It has an aching chorus on which Redfern adds some pretty savvy vocal overdubs, and some slide playing that, just for a moment, reminds me of Blackmore in its tone.
The thrash-along ‘Voodoo Priest’ is the only track here that’s a bit below par.  But ‘Take Me High’ gets things back on track, a bluesier affair with a surging stop-time riff and another airy chorus trying to escape from the firestorm of Redfern’s guitar and Marks’ bass, and the herd of buffalo that is Stewart’s drums.  Then ‘The Last Stand’ rounds things off in measured style, its throbbing guitar, pulsing bass and behind-the-beat drums creating an evocative mood, topped off with Redfern getting even more Blackmore-esque on a haunted slide break.
Troy Redfern’s voice is, to be fair, a bit of a limited instrument, ranging from a rasp to a bark with little more than volume shifts in the way of variation, but he still goes at it with creditable conviction. In fact everything is invested with that same conviction – and producer Dave Marks has done a fine job of harnessing that.
So yeah, Troy Redfern has made me think twice. With his saturnine appearance he may look ready to audition for the role of some outcast prince in a Tolkien movie, well suited to a core sound resembling siege artillery, but the brighter strands of rock'n'roll DNA in the veins of Invocation make it well worth a listen.
 
Invocation is out now, and can be ordered here.

Troy Redfern - The Wings Of Salvation

There’s Troy Redfern staring out from the cover of The Wings Of Salvation: saturnine, bearded, beetle-browed, and wearing a kinda cowboy hat.  He looks mean and moody like he’s about to tell Clint Eastwood this dust-ridden fleapit is a one-horse town, and that horse ain't Clint's.  But if that makes you think that this here album might sound like a mariachi band, think again amigo.
On first listen to The Wings Of Salvation you could imagine that Troy Redfern’s middle name is ‘Raunch’, given his hoarse voice and rasping Resonator guitar, and the often sledgehammer-like

Troy Redfern has a bash at new exercise activity 'Guitar Yoga'

Pic by Adam Kennedy

rhythm section of Paul Stewart on drums and Dave Marks on bass.  But as with Redfern’s previous album The Fire Cosmic, there are subtleties discernible beneath the surface thunder.
Among these are a couple of nods to glam rock, in the form of 'Sweet Carolina' and ‘Come On’.  Redfern has referenced Marc Bolan as an influence for ‘. . . Carolina’, and the comparison is reasonable enough – except that this is way more manly than the simpering Bolan could ever manage, and with less inane lyrics into the bargain.  With its strongarm drumming from Stewart, busy bass from Marks and a siren-like slide solo, it's a grower of a song.  Then the following ‘Come On’ mixes up Glitter Band stomp with a bouncing, catchy chorus that’s roughed up by Redfern’s sandpaper vocal.
‘Navajo’ is, as its title suggests, a Wild West injun song.  At first it feels like it could do with more fire water in its veins.  But gradually, with its clippety-clop rhythm, and Redfern’s fiddle-like slithering slide competing with down-home banjo from Marks, it develops an interesting country vibe - like a muscled-up ‘Ghost Riders In The Sky’, and with a similar mythic tone to its lyrics.  ‘Dark Religion’ has a vaguely Celtic feel, with a discordant edge set to waltz-time.  I’m not even really sure I like it, but it is an intriguing little thing, its lyrics featuring a couple of phrases from Shakespeare alongside the album title, which is shared with a song featured in the game Minecraft – as Redfern may or may not know.  (I didn’t, but Google and I are on intimate terms.)  And ‘Heart And Soul’ is a wistful, brooding, stripped back affair with more Western shadings that brings the album to a dwindling close.
“Yes yes yes,” some of you may be thinking.  “This is all very well - but does Troy get heavy?”  Well, yes yes yes, I told you right at the top that he does.  The opening ‘Gasoline’ is a jangling rocker, with slamming drums and chunks of grinding slide, allied to a brief, swirling bridge that segues into his solo, and an airy melody – or as airy as he can manage with his throaty vocal – leading to a quasi-anthemic chorus.  ‘Profane’ is a Motorhead-like thrash, without Lemmy’s bald wit but with a guitar solo of interesting quirkiness.  And best of all there’s the energetic but not full-tilt ‘Down’, with its warped, guttural guitar sound, a raw, punk-ish whine to some of the vocals, and a scraping slide solo.  (My review download actually had ‘Down’ tagged with the cryptic moniker ‘UKhfu1600064’ - presumably a recording code of some kind - which fits this slightly off-kilter affair rather better than its prosaic proper title.)
Dave Marks (who some readers may know for playing bass with guitar whizz Simon McBride), deserves special mention not just for his bass-spanking, but for his contributions as Redfern’s producer and co-arranger, and supplier of keyboards, banjo, percussion, additional guitars and backing vocals for extra colour.  Sure, there are a couple of tracks that are slight in comparison to the best of ‘em, but The Wings Of Salvation reinforces the sense that Troy Redfern is an artist with a distinctive rocking identity.
 
The Wings Of Salvation is out now on RED7 Records, and can be ordered here.
 

Gimme 5 - Troy Redfern does the Desert Island thing

Troy Redfern, who heads out on tour as special guest to When Rivers Meet from 21 April, is the latest guest for Blues Enthused's Gimme 5 feature, sharing 5 songs, old or new, that have been on his radar lately; 5 key influences on his music; and 5 people he'd like to hang out with for a long lunch.  And Troy dares to be different with an eclectic range of interesting selections.  So whaddya got for us, Troy?

Troy Redfern tunes up his Resonator in readiness to go on tour

Pic by Halek Gurer

Gimme 5 songs, old or new, that have been on your radar recently.  [Check out the links to hear all Troy's selections.]

'Taking Me Back' by Jack White:  "Jack White has always put out great records, but his lead single from his new album Fear of the Dawn really caught my ear. What I like about it is the combination of the old school garage vibe meets futuristic production." 

'Halfway Home' by Royston Langdon:  "Royston is one of my all-time favourite writers and vocalist, I absolutely loved his work with Spacehog. This single from his new Chains EP really hits the mark for me." 

'Scarlet Town' by Gillian Welch:  "The Harrow and the Harvest is such a beautiful album, the interplay between Gillian's vocals and Dave Rawlings guitar work is sublime. 'Scarlet Town' is as about as perfect as a song can be, stunning songcraft."

'Preaching Blues' by Son House:  "The newly released Forever On My Mind is astonishing in its primal beauty capturing Son in his later years. Son is the grandfather of the blues and was the guy that really made me want to play resonator guitar. 'Preaching Blues' is one of my favourite Son House tunes so it's great to hear this new version."

'Tension and Release' by Joe Satriani:  "Growing up Joe's albums Surfing With The Alien and The Extremist were on heavy rotation, I've always followed his releases. His new release The Elephants Of Mars is fantastic. Satriani continues to write amazing instrumentals with his unique voice on the guitar.

Gimme 5 artists or bands who have had a big influence on your work.

Son House:  "I discovered Son when I was about 14, it was a real turning point for me. Before then I'd been listening to later blues artists like Hendrix and Buddy Guy but getting back to the source was a revelation. His visceral, honest approach to the guitar really affected me, it really informed the mindset that I still have today every time I pick up the guitar."

Frank Zappa:  "Zappa's catalogue is whole musical universe unto itself.  From the early avant-

Cosmically colourful and complex Frank Zappa

garde, the blues influence, extended solos, beautifully complex compositions, and all executed with fierce originality. His music, from when I first heard it as a teenager has had a profound influence on me, and still does. It has everything that I love about music."

Queen:  "The very first band I got into when I was 6 was Queen. I would incessantly listen to A Night At The Opera and Sheer Heart Attack, loving the detail in the production. Brian May's guitar tones and harmonies are some of the best guitar parts ever recorded in my opinion." 

Mississippi Fred McDowell:  "Fred's slide guitar playing is as honest and raw as you can get.  I've always been a huge fan of hill country blues, it always felt more honest than the slick Chicago style. Fred's lead phrasing, touch and vibrato really speaks to me. There's a beauty in the rawness."

Bill Frisell:  "The sound scape, out of focus style of Bill Frisell is special. He's a master of weaving beautiful guitar melodies into a tapestry of unique textures and compositions. His approach really influenced me in the way you can build layers, especially using loops which I like to do live in my solo set."

Gimme 5 guests you’d love to invite to your ideal long lunch.

Graham Hancock:  "Graham's a British writer whose best-known work is Fingerprints of the Gods. It would be great to talk ancient civilisations with him, I've always loved the fascinating subject of early megolithic cultures and the strange anomalies that exist around the world, like

Bill Harkleroad shocked at lunch invite

that of Gobekli Tepe." 

Jacques Vallée:  "Now that the once taboo subject of UFO's has had a paradigm shift with the recent Pentagon report delivered to Congress last year, it would be great to talk to one of the leading authorities on the subject. The case reports of military encounters since the 40s are mind-blowing."

Vinnie Colauita:  "Vinnie is one of my all-time favourite drummers. I'd love to talk polyrhythms and nested tuplets with him (nerd alert!), especially about his work during the years he spent working with Zappa." 

Gianni Russo:  "Now this guy has lived a life! His stories about his time with the mafia, his fling with Marilyn Monroe and singing lessons with Sinatra would be great to hear."

Bill Harkleroad:  "Bill played guitar for Captain Beefheart, I absolutely love his angular slide guitar playing. It would be ace to hear his stories of working under the iron fist of the good Captain and the process of constructing the parts for the Trout Mask Replica album.

Just one track – pick one of your tracks that you’d share with a new listener to introduce your music.

If I had to pick one track it would probably be 'Ghosts' from my 2021 album The Fire Cosmic.  It has all the elements that define my style.  

Check out the Blues Enthused review of The Fire Cosmic here.

Troy Redfern is special guest on When Rivers Meet's UK tour, which starts on 21 April.  Tickets are available from The Gig Cartel here.

If you want to read the Gimme 5 feature with When Rivers Meet's Aaron Bond, you can find it here.

If you want to listen to all of Troy Redfern's selected tracks at once, then check out the playlist on the Blues Enthused YouTube channel, here.

Troy Redfern - The Fire Cosmic

“Get yer ya-yas out!”, as the Rolling Stones once demanded in typically dubious fashion.  Not that Troy Redfern’s new album The Fire Cosmic sounds like anything like the Stones.  But it still seems like the right sentiment in response to this tornado of an outing.
Never mind the interstellar squawking and bleeping on the intro to opening track ‘Scorpio’.  The riff that follows is down to earth to the max, like a rock’n’roll juggernaut thundering across the landscape.  And there’s plenty more where that came from.
Take ‘One Way Ticket’ for example, which sounds like Bon Jovi’s ‘Bad Medicine’ has been

Troy Redfern - blues-rock stürm und drang

Pic by Haluk Gurer

dragged to a scrapyard and whacked about with crowbars and sledgehammers by a gang of bad-tempered, musclebound Chechens, while Redfern’s slide guitar squeals painfully in response.  In a good way, I should add.
The primary modus operandi here is that Darby Todd’s drums pound, Dave Marks’ bass delivers combination punches below the belt, guitars grind, and Redfern whacks out a guttural, Alice Cooper-like vocal – albeit without Cooper’s often warped lyrical content.  So ‘Sanctify’ clatters along like an express train mutation of garage rock, while the hard rock slamming of ‘On Fire’ (featuring guest guitarist Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal) offers up some post-Eddie Van Halen soloing.
The tunes are decent beneath the stürm und drang though, as on the catchy ‘Waiting For Your Love’ and the slower, more restrained ‘Love And War’, where a pinch of funk is added to the recipe and Redfern adds a more melodic tone to his solo even as he steps on the throttle.
But Redfern isn’t a one-trick pony on the songwriting front.  ‘Saving Grace’ is a subtle ballad built on acoustic strumming with slide embellishments, with some neat layered vocals adding to the atmosphere.  The closing ‘Stone’ is solemn, with weeping slide, before rousing itself to some anthemic stylings and soaring guitar, then falling away at the end with a delicate piano outro from Marks.  And best of all perhaps, ‘Ghosts’ opens with a tripping rhythm and Redfern’s National Resonator slide guitar to the fore, like something from the cowboy trail, before revving up and cruising away as if on the arrow-straight two-lane blacktop of a desert highway.
If you like your blues-rock hard’n’heavy, then The Fire Cosmic is an album that could well fit the bill.  It’s hefty but disciplined, carrying precious little fat, and I approve of that.  There’s one thing missing though, if you ask me.  That lurid Marvel Comics-style cover art should really feature bolts of galactic lightning blasting out of the headstock of Redfern’s guitar.  Don’t mess about Troy, go the whole darned hog!
 
The Fire Cosmic is released on RED7 Records on 6 August, and can be ordered here.

Quickies - Dust Radio, Jed Potts and the Hillman Hunters, Troy Redfern, and Fattore Rurale

Dust Radio – Shotgun Shack
 
Over the years I’ve developed a real liking for rough and ready stuff in a North Mississippi Hill Country vein, from the early Black Keys albums to the North Mississippi Allstars themselves, and beyond.  So I’m well primed for the kind of sound with which Dust Radio, a duo formed last year in the north west of England, kick off their five track debut EP Shotgun Shack.
‘Dead Man’s Crawl’ sets sail with a twitching, fuzzy groove courtesy of guitarist Tom Jackson, over minimalist percussion, to which his buddy Paddy Wells adds complementary squawks and

Messrs Wells and Jackson - which is which, I wonder?

wails of harp.  Wells’ vocals are sufficient unto the day – as in, they’re perfecty acceptable and never misfire, but aren’t especially adventurous.  But backing vocals add a touch more beef to the chorus, while Wells essays a decent harp solo, and they make neat use of handclaps to brighten up the bridge.  ‘Shotgun Shack’ itself treads similar terrain, with a deeper, simpler riff over a stomping kick drum, augmented in places by harmonising harmonica from Wells, and some interjections from a tasteful descending motif.
‘Fault Line’ is the standout track though, and of a different ilk.  Languid and dreamy, it leans on more fulsome drums and bass, while Jackson lays down more sparse and glittering guitar lines, with hints of Keef-like twanginess.  Wells’ vocals are stronger here, making the most of the appealing melody to show more of his range and convey more character, and he adds some plangent injections of harp into the bargain.
‘Backslider’ has a good revolving riff at its core, back by offbeat drums, and there’s a decent chorus, bolstered by vocal harmonies, while Jackson lays down a neat slide solo as the riff continues to roll forward.  On ‘Siren Song’, a “me and the devil” affair, the vocal melody and guitar work follow each other, without drums or bass, and the overall effect is a tad simplistic, notwithstanding a mournful harp solo from Wells.
All in all Shotgun Shack is a solid first outing by Dust Radio, whose debut album is scheduled for release in the autumn.  But for my money they’d benefit from a bit more imagination in the songwriting department.
 
Shotgun Shack is released by Lunaria Records on 28 May.
 
Jed Potts And The Hillman Hunters – How’mi’mentuh
 
That’s as in “How am I meant to love you,” in case you were wondering.
The fourth in the Hillmans’ ongoing series of original singles is a tale of a misfiring love affair set in New Orleans – which was also the musical trigger for the tune, with Jed Potts attempting to reproduce a Professor Longhair piano boogie vibe on guitar.
The shuffling guitar riff raises the curtain unaccompanied, and when Potts starts to add his vocal it feels like it needs to be dialled up in some way.  But then Jonny Christie’s drums and Charlie Wild’s bass kick in, and the whole thing takes off, with that bouncing riff worming its way into your brain in tandem with a grabber of a chorus, en route to a neat change in rhythm at the end to round things off.
‘How’mi’mentuh’ is another indicator that Jed Potts & The Hillman Hunters are developing a solid repertoire of original material.
And while I’m on the subject, I’ll also mention the first in this run of singles, ‘Where’s Your Man’, which I didn’t cover when it was released last December.  It’s a tasty slice of Chicago blues-styled bump’n’grind, with a lurching beat from Christie and Potts summoning up his most rasping vocal, and there’s nicely controlled use of dynamics in the bridge and the third verse.  But I’m most taken with the way Potts brightens up the old “back door man” blues trope with some lively

The be-hatted Troy Redfern

Pic by Haluk Gurer

rat-a-tat lyrics, such as “You know I try my best to make sure you ain’t neglected / But it’s bad for my constitution when your husband comes in unexpected.”  That’s worth a quid for a download all on its own, I reckon!
 
‘How’mi’mentuh’ is released on 15 May.  All four of the singles series are available on Bandcamp, here.
 
Troy Redfern – Waiting For Your Love
 
Another new single on the conveyor belt comes from British slide guitarist Troy Redfern, with ‘Waiting For Your Love’ an appetiser for his forthcoming album . . . The Fire Cosmic, set for release in August.
This sure ain’t no sappy love song.  Rather it’s an impactful chunk of boogie that’s all churning rhythm guitar, stomping drums from Darby Todd, and a snarling vocal and healthy topping of sidewinding slide from Redfern.  ‘Waiting For Your Love’ is the aural equivalent of a double quarter pounder cheeseburger’n’fries with all the trimmings – greasily satisfying.
 
‘Waiting For Your Love’ is released by RED7 Records on 21 May.  The album . . . The Fire Cosmic is released on 6 August, and can be pre-ordered here.
 
Fattore Rurale – Morsi
 
Morsi is the latest EP from Italian left-fielders Fattore Rurale, comprising two tracks – ‘Punto g’ and ‘La luna in leone’.
I don’t often quote directly from PR bumf, but on this occasion I think it might help to put you in the picture:  “Fattore Rurale was born . . . in a gash of earth and mud circumscribed by the slow

Morsi - it means "bites", folks

flow of three rivers, where the fog hides the sins of the human being and desolation gives way to silence.”  They’re a cheery bunch, Fattore Rurale.
‘Punto g’ - be warned, the video is a bit, er, eyebrow-raising - opens with some fairly breezy acoustic strumming, and some weeping slide guitar in the background from Riccardo Polledri, while Marco Costa adds his trademark subterranean croak of a vocal, previously encountered in these columns in the guise of Crudelia, and subsequently Ruins Barren.  Drum kick in as the tune progresses, and Polledri adds a meaty guitar riff as Costa proceeds to get himself all worked up, in gruff fashion, before giving way to a rumbling, fuzzy, feedback-laden guitar solo.
‘La luna in leone’ is a more restrained affair, starting with a sombre acoustic guitar riff before Costa weighs in with his Leonard-Cohen-on-downers groan.  There’s some tasteful, elegiac cello, and brooding electric guitar lurking in the background that eventually steps forward for a brief, patient, razor-like solo.
Morsi isn’t music that adds boogie to the woogie, to be sure.  But if you’re in the market for a molto serioso smorgasbord of Americana, indie-folk, and the feel of Gogol Bordello gone very downbeat, then it might float your boat.  In Italian.
 
Morsi is available now on Spotify, Apple Music, and You Tube.