Skip to main content

Cornmeal Slow Street: An Exercise in Giving Pause



Words & Photo By Nicholas Stock (Fat Guerilla Productions)

Cornmeal has always been the little band that could. Hailing from Chicago, Cornmeal has been a working ensemble for fifteen years. Most fans are aware of the exodus of long time fiddler Allie Kral, but the real story is how this band has evolved in the intervening years. Personally I’ve been a fan going all the way back to the second Summer Camp Music Festival. Through lineup changes and a relentless touring schedule, this band has persevered and emerged from uncertainty with a new album that details the journey quite elegantly.

While Drew Littel on drums and Scott Tipping on guitar have had some time to settle in, Phil Roach has only been a full time member of Cornmeal since January. Wavy Dave on banjo and Chris Gangi on bass are the stalwart veterans that have continued to carry this musical torch since the beginning. Slow Street is the band’s first studio album in 9 years. The album features ten original tracks with several guest musicians including Anders Beck from Greensky Bluegrass.

The songs are utterly familiar because several have been road tested since before the Nowaks left. The difference is there are some apparent tempo changes and a polish that only a full production can create. “Goodnight, My Darling” features some beautiful harmonies for some high-energy bluegrass with just a taste of melancholy. “Coming Back Home” takes on an almost gospel feel, while “Lay Me Down” features some impeccable picking from Wavy Dave on the banjo. “Oh Leah Lea” has become a fan favorite sing along in recent years; it was recorded with an emphasis on the twang. “Long Hard Road” almost feels like a cowpunk tune in this version with Phil Roach really earning his keep on the violin. “All Things Must Change” could have easily been the title track. This song exemplifies everything the band has gone through since Kral’s departure and more.

“Can you hear those highway blues calling out your name?” –Lyric from “All Things Must Change”

This song is exquisitely recorded with crystal clear tracking. “I’ll Be Looking At You” is another crowd-pleasing love song with a lot of history being played in a live setting. “Old Virginia” takes a more delicate approach with some beautiful slide guitar work. This song is just masterful in every way. Another tune that references Cornmeal’s struggle to find firm footing is “Rise Above.” This is really a song about redemption. The album closing “Trouble Gonna Find Me” is a high-energy throw down that almost feels like Porky Pig ending a cartoon. "That’s all folks!"

So what we have is an incredibly intelligent and referential album from Cornmeal. There is no question that the last few years have been turbulent for this jamgrass band from Chicago. It seems that with this release and the addition of Roach on fiddle that Cornmeal is poised once again to dominate the Midwest music scene. Go check out Slow Street. It’s everything we’ve been waiting for.

www.cornmealinthekitchen.com

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Livetronica Sampler 3.22.11

Words by Greg Molitor ( ReMIND Photography ) Ozric Tentacles This British group has proven innovative throughout the years offering a space-rock meets psytrance sound that remains alive to this day. Though never having a major record label, Ozric Tentacles has produced 28 albums of diverse psychedelia throughout its career. The band met at the Stonehenge Free Festival in 1983 and truly fathered livetronica music with its use of sequencers and synthesizers. Simply put, there would be no livetronica without Ozric Tentacles. www.ozrics.com Octopus Nebula Colorado’s Octopus Nebula has certainly hit its stride as of late with its constant touring and increased festival interest. The group expands on the deep sounds of highly regarded acts such as STS9 and Shpongle but also carves a path of its own with its fresh takes on synthesizer tones and sampling in the live setting. Octopus Nebula Live at Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom on March 26, 2010. <--- Direct Archive Link www.octopus

Buckethead: Gimmick or Guitar God?

Words & Photos By Nicholas Stock ( phatphlogblog.blogspot.com ) At what point does the gimmick overshadow the performance? The obvious answer is Buckethead. The man is an amazing guitarist but something is not right in this world. The idea a performer who dons a KFC chicken bucket on his head for a concert has always intrigued me, and some of his side projects such as Colonel Claypool’s Bernie Bucket of Brains have been huge successes. However his performance last weekend in Fort Collins simply left me perplexed. From his robotic dancing, to his nunchuck display, to the fact the he performed with an iPod rather than a band all added to my confusion. Going into the show I was ready to be blown away, despite rumblings of disgruntled fans from the previous night’s show at The Gothic. Buckethead had had some sound issues and some missed cues in Denver but I was still trying to be positive for the show in Fort Collins. It did go off without a hitch technically but that was the least

The Origin of MusicMarauders

Words By J-man "What should I name this fucking thing?" I asked myself in the midst of a joint in my Upstate, NY apartment. "It's got to be something with just 'Music'in the title. Nothing more specific than that, as we'll be covering a wide variety of genres." One more drag on the joint yielded the memory of driving down Woodward Ave. in Detroit, listening to Tribe Called Quest's Midnight Marauders. "MusicMarauders! That's it... It completely encompasses what we do in the sense the we are 'maraudering' or 'pillaging' for music," I thought as I stared out of the window at about three and a half feet of fresh Upstate snow. First things first, the domain had to be registered. "Do I have ten dollars in my account?" I thought to myself from a position of just scraping by. Pulling out my shiny, rarely used debit card, I put it to the test and was able to secure MusicMarauders.com. "What's next?" I