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.

The South

Jack Sundrud and I wrote The South as an homage to the place and the literary history it evokes. We included nods to Mark Twain, Thomas Wolfe and Margaret Mitchell. The orginal song did not have a bridge, and Jack and I wrote that prior to going into the studio. That’s the section that talks about “look homeward all you angels.”

Angela Primm and Gale Mayes did an outstanding job on the back-up vocal, harkening the spiritual feel the song demanded.

I played a Martin Ditson guitar on this cut. The Diston has a really deep body and sound.

Cool Albums Reconsidered . Peter Rowan

In 1993, Peter Rowan released “Awake Me In the New World,” an absolutely stunning musical reconsideraton of Derek Wolcott’s book “Omeros.” which was in itself a reconsideration of Homer’s Odysseus.I recall that the album affected me for almost a full year. Every time I listened, I heard something new. To my mind, it is one of the coolest concept albums I’ve listened to. I’m sure you have had an album affect in you in a similar way.

…from my MySpace blog in 2006…

Cool Albums Reconsidere 3/4 Walter Hyatt, Rickie Lee Jones

Walter Hyatt’s King Tears was released in 1996. Hyatt had performed for years in the super Texas group, Uncle Walt’s Band. If you like great vocals, check out Walter Hyatt. He only released two solo albums before he was killed in an airplane crash in Florida. Picking a favorite Rickie Lee Jones album is like deciding which finger you like best. But since I’m in the 90s here, I’m going with Pop Pop, a collection of old standards and movie tunes. As always, the Duchess of Coolsville was cool before it was cool.