R O U T E S  &  B R A N C H E S  

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

January 5, 2020

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Think I'd mentioned that we'd be presenting our favorite records of the decade for this Episode.  For that, scroll down to our post for Dec 29.  Turns out that was actually a fun list to put together, even if the final hours found me flip-flopping.  Jeez, it's hard enough for me to put together a list of my favorite music for a month ...

But with this week's Episode, we climb back on our poor overworked horse and head back out into the frontier in search of new music that matters.  In January alone, we're expecting to encounter fresh new stuff from Drive-by Truckers, Futurebirds, Possessed by Paul James and Terry Allen.  We'll cross paths with Bonny Light Horseman, a supergroup featuring Anais Mitchell, Eric D Johnson and Josh Kaufman.  If all goes as planned, we'll hear from Blackie & the Rodeo Kings, David Dondero and Legendary Shack Shakers.  We're gonna need a bigger horse.

One of our first encounters on this journey of musical discovery is with a longtime compadre.  Left Arm Tan is not a new name to frequenters of R&B.  Our blog has made a regular practice of drawing readers' attention to the Fort Worth outfit at least since 2013's Alticana.  We pursued the boys through Lorene (16) and into 2018's great leap forward, El Camino.  I've never done a word count, but there's a good chance we've expended more words on Left Arm Tan than on just about any other artist.  So it's only fitting that we stride boldly into the new decade with their new self-titled record ringing in our ears.

By way of debuting their 6th record, Left Arm Tan are sharing a series of short videos chronicling the birth of their project, due wherever music matters on January 14th.  You'll find those accounts below, along with a preview - They call the doc Phoenix Rising: An Americana Rockumentary. 

Like Left Arm Tan's music, the video project is polished but personal.  To quote narrator Alan Cross, They take the music seriously, but not themselves.  Overall, it's a good-natured document that celebrates a genuinely hardworking blue collar band during a time of great trial and challenging transition.  We are re-introduced to the group, from founder Daniel Hines to frontman Brian Lee, and others who have been with Left Arm Tan from several months to a couple years.  Despite the jumbled origin story, each member speaks to a cohesiveness and a common dedication to The Song: They write 'em like they got something to lose.

That's where we encounter the new project, at the intersection of these personalities, experiences and influences.  A couple months ago, they created a new hashtag, #nogenre, highlighting the fact that the new songs weren't necessarily beholden to any single sound.  Not country, trad or alt or Texas.  Not rock or blues or americana.  Left Arm Tan would honor each song and give lead to every lyric, following the muse until it just felt right.  To quote the documentary, At 20, commitment was a word. At 40, it has substance. And that substance has worked its way into the new songs.

Which doesn't mean the new stuff is busy with pretension.  On the contrary, Left Arm Tan have never sounded this comfortable, this dialed into their work.  You won't hear the sweat on "Headlights of Cars", an overcast tune awash in the loss of innocence: We used to dance all night in the headlights of cars.  From a strummed acoustic, the instrumentation builds expertly, layering vocals and adding depth and texture. Lead vocalist Brian Lee is a treasure, applying just the right touch and emotion to the song, never giving into theatrics.  As with celebrated writers like Will Hoge and Lori McKenna, you'll only realize the effort and the focus after witnessing dedication evident in the videos.  I dug a well in the pit of my heart / And named it after you.

That substance reveals itself with some new sounds.  The cosmic wash of "Stars and City Lights", or the brash horns which introduce "Mexicali Run", another from Left Arm Tan's auto-themed playlist: The desert sounds better with Ramones on the radio.  More than most acts of their ilk, they understand how to construct a song, how a tune unfolds to reveal itself little by little.  The mariachi horn break that gives way to Lee's gritty Southern rock yowl.  And the well-honed pop hooks are everywhere.  "Harder To Let Go" follows a young woman as she seeks traction on the streets of LA, shining with Eagles-worthy harmonies.

Left Arm Tan have never been a lyrically lazy act.  Each piece earns its grooves as both a story and a song.  "La Mirage" glances between the curtains from room to room of a roadside inn: From prophets to doubters / And those who just can't believe / Everybody's got a tale and a lesson to pass on.  Flickering hotel lights reveal newlyweds and a lifetime serviceman flirting with divorce.  Possibly the same haunted soldier who narrates the remarkable "Alpha Bravo": Oh Bobby can't you hear my voice / Above the sounds of collateral noise / All zipped up and barely hanging on.

Truth be told, I don't need to admire an artist as a person to enjoy their music.  But you can't help but root for the guys of Left Arm Tan, a bruised and battered band of brothers scratching and clawing their way through a decade of small victories and challenging setbacks that have driven other talented acts off the road.  Even in the wake of a difficult year, the dedication shines through on this new collection, spotlighting a group of road warriors who respond to the challenge the only way they know how.  By continuing to mature as writers and as instrumentalists.  Perhaps there's a little sarcasm in calling their docu-series Phoenix Rises (as the narrator notes, the phoenix has risen until somebody shoots it ...).  Nevertheless, those fifteen-hour recording sessions have given birth to something that should raise Left Arm Tan's profile, songs that deserve to reach the ears of folks listening for new music that matters.

Perhaps it's appropriate the the album's trailing tune is a laconic ode to radio waves bouncing across outer space, unwittingly landing in the ears of aliens.  "Good Ol' Days" is evocative with accordion, horns and guitar: They write 'em like they got something to lose / But somewhere in outer space / There's some old radio waves / And aliens are starting to sway / To songs from the good ol' days ... Damn aliens don't know how good they got it.





- Lula Wiles, "It's Cool" single  (Smithsonian, 19)  D
- Dave & Phil Alvin, "Wild Man On the Loose" If You're Going to the City: Tribute to Mose Allison  (Fat Possum, 19)
- Jakob Dylan, Dhani Harrison, et al.  -  "For Real" single  (BMG, 19)  D
- Wood Brothers, "Little Bit Sweet" Kingdom of the Mind  (HoneyJar, Jan 24)
- Becky Warren, "Full of Bourbon" War Surplus (Deluxe) (Warren, 16)
- Elijah Ocean, "Toms River" Back to the Lander  (New Wheel, 19)
- Legendary Shack Shakers, "Dump Road Yodel" Love From Sun Studio  (Chicken Ranch, Jan 17)  D
- Esther Rose, "Flowers" single  (Rose, 19)  D
- Scott H Biram, "God Don't Work" Sold Out To the Devil  (Bloodshot, 19)
- Jung Shackleton, "Proof of Life (feat. Buck Meek)" single  (Elephant Island, 19)  D
- Secret Sisters, "Hold You Dear" Saturn Return  (New West, Feb 28)
- Jack Broadbent, "Everytime I Drown" Moonshine Blue  (Creature, 19)
- Mail the Horse, "Pitch and Haw" Mail the Horse  (Baby Robot, 19)
- Neko Case, "If I'm Gonna Sink" Touch My Heart: Tribute to Johnny Paycheck  (Sugar Hill, 04)
- Harvest Thieves, "Mercy Kill" As the Sparks Fly Upward  (Harvest Thieves, 20)  D
- Micah Schnabel, "Memory Currency" Teenage Years of the 21st Century  (Here You Go, 19)
- I Can Lick Any SOB in the House, "Break All Your Strings" Mayberry  (Sad Crow, 13)
- Jonathan Wilson, "69 Corvette" Dixie Blur  (BMG, Mar 6)  D
- Carman AD, "Diesel Engine Songs" Wilderness EP  (Carman, Jan 10)  D
- Nathaniel Rateliff, "Summer's End" Marigold Singles  (Stax, 19)
- Trampled by Turtles, "Keep Me In Your Heart" Sigourney Fever EP  (Banjodad, 19)
- William Clark Green, "The One I Was Then" Next Waltz Vol 2  (Next Waltz, 19)
- Gabriel Birnbaum, "Stack the Miles" Not Alone  (Arrowhawk, 19)
- Sarah Lee Langford, "Big Women" Two Hearted Rounder  (Cornelius Chapel, 19)
- Benjamin Tod, "Sorry For the Things" A Heart of Gold Is Hard To Find  (Tod, 19)  D
- Rock*a*Teens, "Count In Odd Numbers" Sixth House  (Merge, 18)
- Fruition, "Where Can I Turn" Broken At the Break of Day  (Fruition, Jan 17)  D
- Joshua Black Wilkins, "Welcome Back Sweet Misery" 17th and Shelby  (JBW, 03)
- Bettye LaVette, "Joy" I've Got My Own Hell To Raise  (Anti, 05)
- Lula Wiles, "You Only Want Me When You Need Me" single  (Smithsonian, 19)  D

We haven't added a ton to A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster lately, in the great music news graveyard that typifies this time of year.  Rising Austin songwriter James Steinle will be bringing a new record our way come February.  What I Came Here For bears the producer's stamp of Bruce Robison.  After a long absence from solo stuff, Will Sexton is joined in studio by the Iguanas for Don't Walk the Darkness (Big Legal Mess, Mar 6).  Longtime LA presence Jonathan Wilson has relocated to Nashville for Dixie Blur (Bella Union, Mar 6), which finds him backed by Mark O'Connor, Dennis Crouch, Kenny Vaughn and others.  We should also have some news soon about the next Harvest Thieves full-length.  

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