Dodd Ferrelle – Lonely Parades

cheerful guitar solos, a handful of slide guitar, toe-tapping drum beats and the occasional bit of violin for extra polish


www.doddferrelle.com

 

Music has lots of homes but there are certain bands and artists that you simply can’t imagine playing anywhere other than in the backroom of an American bar. Like The Hold Steady, for example, or Wilco. Ryan Adams’ early band Whiskeytown would be another perfect example. They’re bands that produce a kind of rock music that’s part blues, part country, all blue collar worker. Dodd Ferrelle fits right in with this bunch. So much so, this album should come with a bunch of spicy chicken wings served in a red plastic wicker-effect basket and the house rules for the pool table in the back.

 

If you’re familiar with any of the bands mentioned above, then you’ll have a fair idea of whether or not this will be your cup of tea or not. If it is, then I suggest you grab yourself a table near the front, order up a couple of cold ones and strap yourselves in for the kind of honest, earnest, rock music you expect to find in a room full of Stetsons and denim overalls. This is good stuff, if not exactly top drawer. Musically it’s all here, cheerful guitar solos, a handful of slide guitar, toe-tapping drum beats and the occasional bit of violin for extra polish. The guitar work is very good indeed, but it’s Dodd’s voice that provides most of the charm, if only because he conjures up that bald fella from Live and none other than Roy Orbison all at the same time. Check out I Can’t Wait and tell me I’m lying!

 

Lonely Parades is a good, solid piece of work. The songs are catchy and very well played and it’ll sound pretty good wherever you listen to it. It’ll just sound better in the back room of the Broken Spur Salloon, because that’s where it belongs.

 

Make mine a bourbon and I’ll see you there about 10.

 

Words: Damian Leslie