Keith Miles - Beyond the headlights

Jack and I jut finished a new song, “Something Bigger Than This,” for inclusion on the new compilation album from Hemifran. I was honored to be asked again by my good friend, Peter Holmstedt, to contribute to the new album, set for release this summer. See all the cool things Peter is up to at his web site here:

Also new is the latest release from my friends, Little Green. I contributed some vocals to one of the songs on the album, “Innocent Again.” Learn more about Little Green and watch for the release of the album on iTunes. Little Green web site here:

I am honored and delighted to have been asked to participate in “Music from home,” a project by Peter Holmstedt and Hemifran. A promotional endeavor limited to Sweden, the album celebrates the idea of home. For my contribution, I wrote a song, “The places the devil calls home,” and recorded with Jack Sundrud at the helm and doing percussion, Russ Pahl on slide guitar and engineering, the great Billy Sanford on guitar, and me strumming this wonderful Michael Bashkin fan fret guitar I picked up last year. Jack and Billy contributed the background vocals. The legendary Bill Halverson stepped in to assist with the mix. Thanks again, guys and thanks Peter!

More about the project and the wonderful artists here .

One of the gratifying things about sending out a new CD to the world is finding new folks who are so supportive of what you are trying to do. Gerrit Vermeij at Muziekvenster has been awfully kind to both my efforts. I’ve been getting his playlists and it’s been amazing to see some of my cuts alongside the likes of Patty Griffin, Po Girl  and others. Additionally, I have used his playlists to learn about new artists myself.

So, a big thank you to Gerrit and his team. Thank you!

http://www.muziekvenster.nl/

Thanks to Peter Holmstedt for the translations of these reviews and thanks as well to the reviewers. I really appreciate your kind words.

Keith Miles    Beyond The Headlights

As Keith Miles begins to sing in the very first track “Road I’m On” from his new album ‘Beyond The Headlights’, the first thing that comes to my mind is: what a great voice for country. The more the album is played, the more I can tell that Keith’s voice is also very suitable for blues. The album is varied and is moving smoothly between these two genres, but the country songs tend to be a little bit more powerful. ‘Beyond The Headlights’ contains some real top tracks, raising the album grade to the higher side of the three.

First out of these is “The South” where Miles is singing, nicely backed by a female background singer, about his love for the American south and that it will always hold a place in his heart. “Iola” is a country song about a common subject in country, the everyday problems. In this case it’s problems like a lack of money, the need to leave town for something better and withering crop. In the song “Maybe I Shoulda” Keith speaks of what he really should have done in order to keep his woman. He sings: “I could have walked a few steps in your shoes, lovin’ me must have been mighty hard”. To like Keith Miles, isn’t very hard at all…

Lars Svantesson / Nya Skivor

eith Miles    Beyond The Headlights

Three years ago, in 2006, Keith Miles debuted with the album ‘What It Was That They Became’ and now he’s here with the follow-up, ‘Beyond The Headlights’, an appealing and varied album with powerful songs. In Miles’ americana, pure country is joined with western swing, some folk music, jazz and a hint of soul. There’s a serious risk for it to be uneven, but as a matter of fact, this journey through Miles’ life – told as both real life and imagined – works very, very well.

The album presents a relaxed atmosphere with fine instrumental efforts, not least in violin and pedal steel, but also with the banjo and mandolin. The songs contain personality as well as nice, narrative lyrics, and all you have to do is close your eyes and let Keith Miles voice carry you away to the American south through the eleven songs of the album. Here we can find sweet southern romance and poetry in “Memories of You”, melodic honky tonk with floating, longing pedal steel in the highway song “Road I’m On”, a catchy celebration to his home in “The South” with a beautiful organ and choir, and happy jump jazz with an energetic tune and brass instruments in “7 Cent Cigar Blues”. In “Samson and Delilah” Miles has borrowed Bo Diddley’s often used jungle rhythms and the female choir from “The South” is back once again.

That’s how it goes on all through the album, like a prism where every song hold its own color and radiance. Entertainment of the highest quality!

Robert Ryttman  /  Countrywood
Bäst 2009 enligt Bengt O Tedeborg / Rootsy

Amy Allison
Sheffield Streets
Amy Allison is digging deep in all directions into the American treasure chest of songs, and returns with wonderful and diverse songs about futile, lost and perfected love. Everything performed with an incredibly characteristic voice and utterly sensitive musicians.

Keith Miles
Beyond The Headlights
Miles writes narrative lyrics in the tradition of great names like John Prine, Guy Clark and Jerry Jeff Walker. Musically he’s wide as the highway, as long as we’re on the subject americana. A couple of Western swing pieces, his love declaration to the South in “The South” and an intense version of “Samson And Delilah” are part of the highlights here.

Naomi Sommers
Gentle As The Sun
An album filled with catchy and vivid music from where the hillbilly and bluegrass tradition meets with blues, folk and a fragment of jazz. Mandolins, dobro and other acoustic string instruments dominate the open and welcoming sound picture.

Mednick, Steve & Eddie Seville
La Collaborazione Dei Due
Lyrics about nights in Louisiana, memories of the great days of the old, choices of life and the necessity of love in a world where castles are made out of sand and where the band only occasionally plays the song you want to hear, with music leaning on Zevon, REM and Springsteen. Mednick and Seville are hardly singing sweetly, and that fact surely helps to make their dynamic and sometimes a little funky roots rock interesting all the way through.

Thanks R2 magazine for the very kind review!

Thank you, ctrl.alt.country for listing my CD, “Beyond the headlights,” on your Best of 2009 list! We came in number 12 on the top 30, which is really great news. Thanks to everyone in Europe who made it all possible.

In other news, Peter Kranendonk plays five of my songs on his radio show, Blue Heaven, last week. www.omroephw.nl

Finally, thanks, Robert Ryttman (www.countrywood.se) for the wonderful review of “Beyond the headlights.”

Three years ago – 2006 – Keith Miles made his debut with the album What It
Was That They became, and now he is here with the sequel Beyond The
Headlights, an attractive and very varied album with strong songs. In Miles americana intermingled pure country with western swing, a little folk, a little jazz and even a little soul. The
risk of unevenness is obvious one might think, but the fact is that
this trip through Miles’ life – which is described as both real life
and imagined – works very well.

So there it goes straight through the plate, like a prism in which each song has its own color and charisma. High-quality entertainment.

from Blues Matters in the UK. Many thanks for the kind words!

Many thanks to MazzMusikas for this review:
Of ik genoten heb van Beyond The Headlights, de nieuwe en tweede cd van Nashville songwriter Keith Miles? Wat een vraag. Momenteel kun je hem hier op zowat elk ogenblik van de dag te horen krijgen. Het is ongetwijfeld de mix aan diverse muziekstijlen die het hem doet. Keith Miles is er namelijk in geslaagd van een schijfje af te leveren met daarop de meest diverse roots- en americanamuziek. En laat dat nou net de plaatjes zijn waar wij heel veel van houden. Wie Nashville zegt, denkt uiteraard aan country maar wat we hier te horen krijgen heeft hoegenaamd geen uitstaans met de traditionele Nashville country. Je hoort Texaanse country (I Like To Drive), pure songwriting in de beste John Prine, Guy Clark traditie (Memories Of You, Maybe I Shoulda en Them Dance Hall Girls), onvervalste western swing à la Bob Wills en Asleep At the Wheel (Who’s That Girl?), jazzy swing (Sweet Waters), jazzy N.O. getinte bigband stuff (7 Cent Cigar Blues, een kruising tussen The Preservation Hall Jazz Band en Country Joe and The Fish), heerlijke blue eyed soul (The South), Southern r&b en gospel met een stevige drumbeat, slide en harmonica (Samson And Delilah) en het betere countrywerk (Road I’m On en Lola). Deze zeer getalenteerde songschrijver laat zich begeleiden door een pak vrienden en muzikanten waaronder Jack Sundrud, ook verantwoordelijk voor de uitstekende productie, Brent Truitt, Joe Hardy, Russ Pahl, Tim Crouch, Billy Sanford, Jim Hoke, Dennis Crouch en Tony Harrell. Hij weet het nog niet maar ik heb een zwak voor deze Keith Miles waarvan ik me vandaag ook de eerste cd ga aanschaffen. (BV)

Forgive the Google translation from the Dutch:

In 2006 appeared “That What It Was They Became” the first musical piece of that coming from Virginia but for obvious reasons, operating out of Nashville singer-songwriter.

In “Beyond The Headlights” Miles will not only professional guidance of some excellent musicians such as guitarist Billy Sanford (Jerry Lee, George Jones, Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, ..) but is also his old friend Jack Sundrud (Great Plains, Poco) behind the production table. Miles duplication again some beautiful compositions that are situated in a varied musical triangle of country, western swing and folk.

“The road I’m on ‘lapping somewhat carefree further fine acoustic and electric guitars. ‘Sweet water’ does the same on vibrafoonklanken in a relaxing smooth jazz rhythm. ’7 Cent cigar blues “is a catchy” twostep blues “with a flamboyant blaze in the background section. “Dixie is the heart of me, … you can go but you can not leave the south” Miles murmurs in the full, rounded by a warm bass, organ and choir sultry ladies in Temperature fired ‘The South’ A beautiful and honest ode to the daily death live in the Southern States, all in the style of the acclaimed song smith Dan Penn.

“Maybe I shoulda ‘, that other song in collaboration with Sundrud came to houses in the same street where southern soul and country into embracing an addictive cocktail of bitter sweet aftertaste. Of the traditional “Samson and Delilah” We have heard more versions, but as Keith in the tender ‘Them dance hall girls’ special vulnerability of Allan Fraser shows clearly that he is still sparsely populated until the wreath is for musicians who can actually stir. Not spectacular musical delights. A weathered voice, acoustic guitar and violin or pedal steel in the background enough. Just listen to the valve itself composed “Memories of You” that washed away the last doubts and this wonderful CD masterfully quit.

Thanks to Freddy Celis for this wonderful review. Excuse the google translation from the Dutch.

Then in 2006 we met with Keith Miles from his album “What It Was They Became” We already had a suspicion that the latter would not be what we would hear this storyteller from Nashville, rhythmically beating heart of country music.

Of course that sound is also reflected in his new CD “Beyond The Headlights” with a variety of local musicians were included. Producer of the album is Jack Sundrud which itself is primarily known as bassist for the legendary country rock group “Poco”. It is ultimately an eleven containing songs, smooth album with nine songs that the listener’s own undeniably a comparison with artists like John Prine or Guy Clark will make do.

The first song “Road I’m On” is an uptempo country song about leaving the past behind. Then follows a banjo and played bluegrass-inspired song “7 Cent Cigar Blues”. Despite the fact that his daily activities consist mainly of office work Keith Miles has always made some time to compose their own songs and narrative lyrics to write. The intensely beautiful ballad “The South” on this CD is typical of his beloved song style.

In “Sweet Waters” he also shows some of the jazz music in his songs like vibrafoontje through the process and this number is highly contagious. The only real cover of “Beyond The Headlights” is the song “Them Dance Hall Girls”, a traditional sounding song from 1971 of the folkduo Fraser & DeBolt. There is also a clever adaptation of an old traditional “Samson and Delilah” we still know the ancient version of The Grateful Dead ‘.

Keith Miles is a musician who is very expressive way his whole heart and soul into his songs and explains that is made clear again in songs like “I Like To Drive” and “Iowa” and in the final full emotional masterpiece “Memories Of You”. Craftsmanship would be a good term for the review of this CD to close.