The Real Deal Music Review

The Real Deal Music Review: Benny Bowmaster – Lucky Dogs

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By Brian Rill

The most popular musician in Salida may not be who you think it is and in fact, you probably have never heard of him. If you haven’t heard Benny Bowmaster then you’re in the same river boat that I was until I witnessed one of the most amazing turnouts in history for a local musician at The Muse speakeasy one night in Salida. Benny is a musician’s musician, so it’s not a mystery as to why he is vastly unknown except for within the somewhat wide expanse of Salida troubadours. What I saw one night was a collection of all the best Salida guitar pickers from the past twenty years gathered together to listen to this one unassuming songwriter perform named Benny Bowmaster.

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The Real Deal Music Review: Chris Arellano – Nuevo Americana

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By Brian Rill

The new sound of Americana is a slow and robust tone with concise phrases that spin stories into spells, devised to bring rain into the dry Northern Plains. You can hear acoustic guitar strings reverberate along desert canyon walls as well as the sound of burning wood chips in a campfire. Long-strummed minor chords send out feelings of lonesomeness into the night. Words sung of promise display a longing to return home but with no idea of the path to get there. Soft songs with sweet memories are written down and then delivered to empty mail boxes that line old Nashville roads only to be forgotten again. Chris Arellano’s album Nuevo Americana contains all these ideas and more including the influence of Norteño music from his New Mexican upbringing. The conglomeration of all these styles is surprisingly mellow and moderately inspired by uptempo pop music.

“The sun is going to chase the moon the night is going to end too soon. I’ll wake up in this lonely room again because morning always wins.” The song Morning Always Wins discusses the obtuse feeling of displacement that one experiences when waking up alone, with the ghost of a lover. With a sound resembling Dire Straits, this tune drives along with a steady back beat. The songwriting is objective but optimistic, leading one to believe that maybe her ghost will one day return.

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The Real Deal Music Review: Hogan and Moss – In Dreams I Go Back Home

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By Brian Rill

Hogan and Moss are BMI artists known for their high paced and powerful live shows. Performing over decades between Central Colorado and Texas they blend a contrite western sound with the upbeat energy of an Appalachian jam. John Hogan sings with a strong instinct of survival as if his very soul depended on the sequence of his songs. They will capture your attention and send you dancing like a frightened grassland grouse.

In Dreams I Go Back Home officially recreates this raw energy from their live performance. Recorded at Def Star Studios in Austin, Texas, the audio quality is super high fidelity, clear, bright and balanced. John Hogan’s vocals soar over the multi-instrumental tracks with Maria Moss backing up the main lines. It is with authoritative authenticity that Hogan and Moss shine; out of classic bluegrass grit they pioneer an amazingly genuine sound. A wide variety of dynamic tension, multiple tempos and numerous beats create a unique experience that rarely becomes bland even after repeated plays. After many listening sessions, the CD In Dreams I Go Back Home reveals new and interesting rhythms offering an abundance of passionate Americana music and enthusiastic prose.

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The Real Deal Music Review: Natalie Gelman – Streetlamp Musician

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By Brian Rill

Natalie Gelman has become a working class heroine, tirelessly perfecting her craft over the many years. The guitar strumming starlet is a singer and songwriter who plays a starring role in all her own music videos. With natural talent and rare beauty, Natalie is the type of artist who is easily adored. Dedicating her life to the muse, she reveals many hidden gems locked inside bunkers beneath formality, perpetually seeking the soul of the matter. Her album Streetlamp Musician beautifully expresses a courageous finesse like a brilliant flower blooming in the sun, singing out glory for a new day. Natalie embraces the essential creative spirit effortlessly with a staunch compassion for those of us who could be easily embarrassed by revealing our true natures.
A startling sense of innocence and an imploring consolation combine to ingrain Natalie’s character with an imminent gracefulness. She shares this pearl of understanding through melody, and marks heartbeats down in her rhythm. Her subtle essence sparkles with stardust, singing confidently but with a sense of humanity that is born of wounded loss. A brand new power is uncovered during every breath while shifting the mantle comprising Ms. Gelman’s unceasing profundity.
Streetlamp Musician converts old black and white film into new colors. An upgrade to the classic acoustic singer-songwriter of the seventies like Joni Mitchell, Patti Smith and Carly Simon, Gelman presents this epic song style with sincerity and honesty. She becomes a young admirer, driven to walk mountain roads while crafting lyrical ballads. Devouring the essential vitamins of sunshine and laughter, she adds an immortal ingredient into her freewheeling tone.

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The Real Deal Music Review: Harper Powell – Colors Of My Life

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powellcd-cover_webBy Brian Rill

Harper Powell is a BMI songwriter from Salida, Colorado, who started singing not long after she began taking her first steps. This freshman solo CD, Colors Of My Life, is a respectable forty minute collection of folk-grass-inspired ditties. A strong bent of classic rock requires a second listen to appear clearly to the average listener. Like a young Alison Krauss, Harper marries the offbeat visionary style of Syd Barrett with the dark conceptualization of Grace Slick to beget a brand new but still retro-inspired musical statement.
Among highly traditional songs from the public domain like Dusty Miller and Hunting The Buffalo, Harper writes honest biographical verse on And I Want To Know, Colors Of My Life and Broken Now Flying. She sings with the softest courage of someone who laughs alone in a crowded room while reading a novel. Whether or not you understand her message, you definitely get the point. Emotionally vulnerable and a bit pensive, her persuasive voice echos in long drawn-out notes that festoon her acoustic guitar chords like floral arrangements among wicker garden gazebos.
Powerful yet humble, while remaining blissfully beautiful, Harper’s style yields to questions surrounding the innocence of flowers being born after a lightning storm. Dark and brooding held within limits of grace and strain she implores, “And I want to know, how can my heart be broken if no one ever tore it out of my chest? I’m on a steep mountain crest, lonely.” Deep introspective lyrics flow beside smooth steady guitar playing. A three-octave range delves deep into the cadence of her vocals riding the highest wave of sweet falsetto before cracking through into a repressed passionate rasp. “Maybe I’m missing something, maybe I skipped over a clue. Maybe a chunk is cut out, but by whom?”

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