By 'Rebel' Rod Ames
Every now and then, a band comes along where I hear the first few bars of one of their tunes, and utter the words, "Now that is From Under the Basement material".
Lauderdale is one of those bands, and their album, “Moving On” is one of those albums. From the title track to the final track, the listener is captivated and taken through “The Shoals” of Northwest Alabama.
The band is comprised of Niles Lee on vocals and guitar, Patrick McDonald on the drums, Daniel Stoddard on guitar, steel, and vocals, Matt Green on bass, and Ben Tanner on keyboards and vocals.
Now folks, I have heard some great records this year. Great records that few get to hear. Anyone that knows me understands my mission. That mission is to bring these artists out into the spotlight where they deserve to be. Lauderdale is one of those bands. If they can keep up the pace they have set for themselves with “Moving On”, they are going to be very busy.
This record immediately moved on to my top 10 list for the year and so far, I’m only about five songs deep into my first listen. I listened to “Torn at the Seams” yesterday afternoon and instantly added it to my playlist for the radio version of “From Under the Basement”. I’m sure they’re playing the hell out of this record in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and surrounding areas, but I’m fairly certain I may be amongst the first to give them any airplay here in the Texas Hill Country.
That [lack of airplay] is a dreadful sin due to the shear talent these five young musicians possess, but when you toss in their talent for writing high caliber tunes like the eleven that reside on “Moving On”, it becomes unfathomable as to why I had to hear about this band by a submission to me via Review Shine. Especially when you factor in all the garbage one is subjected to thanks to mainstream or ugly radio these days.
You won’t be able to keep from making comparisons to other bands such as Drive-By Truckers, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, and many others, but don’t be confused by that comparison. There is Texas Music, there is Southern Rock, there is the Macon sound, and there is the Muscle Shoals sound. That is where you would place Lauderdale. In fact, you could possibly go as far as to say that perhaps all of these sub-genres had some sort of an influence on them.
All I have left to say about Lauderdale is look out, and one should probably make plans to see them as soon as you can in a small venue. I predict an enormous amount of success to rapidly come their way.
‘Rebel’ Rod says that if you check no one else out this year, then make sure the one you do check out is Lauderdale! I love this record!
No comments:
Post a Comment