Suzanne Santo

Ruby Red

Reviewed by: Brenda Hillegas

Here in the great city of Philadelphia, World Cafe Live and WXPN collaborate to bring us a weekly “Free at Noon” show. The free, hour-long live sets feature musicians who are usually in town for a headlining show. Last year, I caught Suzanne Santo along with Butch Walker and although I had loved Walker for many years, I left that show with an admiration (and a bit of a girl crush) on Santo.

On Santo’s debut solo album, Ruby Red, she collaborates with Walker on a track titled “Better Than That”. This song shows off what Suzanne Santo is made of – raw, honest vocals and a heavy dose of perfect Americana. It’s a shame “Better Than That” nearly closes out Ruby Red, as it’s a good enough lead track.

With that being said though, the first track, “Handshake”, draws in the listener with an eerie-pop intro and a raspy old record player sound. This anti-love song (or is it just an honest, actual love song?) proves what anyone who may have seen Santo perform before already has known. She’s the real deal.

Other stand out tracks include the soul-spilling “Best Out of Me”, the kick-ass “Love Fucked Up”, and “The Wrong Man” which is something that we can all relate to…right?!

After more than a decade-long career, Santo (who is also half of the duo Honeyhoney), gives us her all in a stand alone album. Her stellar songwriting across eleven songs creates unforgettable ballads, rock and roll, and incredibly pure, beautiful music overall.

Rating: Bad-Ass

Busted Jukebox, Vol. 1

Reviewed by: Jane Roser

“Taa daa! Surprise, ladies and gentlemen! We made you something! It is a collection of others peoples really good songs as we have interpreted them, featuring collaborations with some of our favorite artists! You can use it for your upcoming mix-tapes.” 

Three days ago, folk-rock duo Shovels & Rope (Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent) announced in true quirky form (mix-tapes!) that they’re releasing an album of ten cover songs on November 20th…it is awesome. Featuring an eclectic collection of songs by Elvis Costello, Nine Inch Nails, The Kinks and Lou Reed, Hearst and Trent brought in friends such as Shakey Graves, Butch Walker and The Milk Carton Kids to help them bring this series to life and the result is magnificent.

“Bullet Belt”, co-written in 2011 by Trent and Butch Walker (and featuring Walker on this recording) is a passionate, bad ass tune with smokey harmonies that sound like they’re balancing on the edge of a knife. On a day off in Charleston (where Shovels & Rope are based), Walker rode his motorcycle over to their home studio to cut vocals for their reinterpretation of this song, then they all spent the rest of the day hanging out at the beach.

“Nothing Takes The Place Of You” by R&B singer Toussaint McCall is a personal favorite of Hearst’s who sings it at sound check often. Singer-songwriter JD McPherson takes the lead vocals on this song which just drips with the blues and features piano, slide guitar and a whole lot of nostalgia.

Nine Inch Nail’s “Last” featuring Caroline Rose is turned into a “psychobilly hoedown from hell” and Emmylou Harris’ “Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight” came about after Shovels & Rope performed at an Emmylou Harris tribute show this past January where they arranged a swampy version of this song. It was so well received, they decided to include it on the album, just the two of them performing bare bones. It’s the perfect bookend to an album with a fine collection of tunes that, like a good pair of Chuck Taylors, never goes out of style and are so cozy, you can’t wait to slip them on.

Rating: Iconic

It was a night for sweat and tears, heart and soul, leather and tattoos. Wednesday’s crowd at the Theater of Living Arts ranged from teens to fiftysomethings; they could have been dressed for school or an office or a barn dance, but those little differences didn’t matter at all. Everyone was there to share something special, and Butch Walker and friends delivered a touching performance straight from the heart.

Philly made the second stop on his ‘On Your Mark, Get Sad’ tour. He’s following his newest album Afraid of Ghosts, which deals with the death of his father “Big Butch” two years ago, and he’s even basing the set lists on his late dad’s favorite songs. However, this wasn’t just a mopey time to make you cry over your whiskey by any means. It was more about feeling better in the end and there were just as many catchy singalongs to balance out the downers.

All photos by Geno Thackara

Regrettably, I barely heard the female duo The Dove & The Wolf at the start of the night, partly due to holdups getting into town, partly because one of them had mostly lost her voice that day and they shortened the set. They still managed some lovely harmonies for the brief song and a half I heard, which were simple pretty pieces with a folky charm. Make a note of the name if you like their self-titled EP on Bandcamp; I’m sure there’ll be more chances to hear them both in better shape once they’re back home in Philly after this tour.

Jonathan Tyler

In contrast, the scruffy Jonathan Tyler couldn’t have looked more Texan with a torn threadbare T-shirt, cowboy hat, alligator boots and a harmonica neck rack. He showed his roots with great renditions of “Girl from the North Country” and Townes Van Zandt’s “Pancho & Lefty”, combined with his own offerings like “Everything Was Cool in 2002” (a preview of August’s new album Holy Smokes). It had the right kind of country feel for me, with down-home touches of blues and gospel, skilled fingerpicking and not too much twang.

Inevitably though, it was Butch Walker’s Southern-tinged rock and roll that stole the show. The room’s nonstop chatter finally stopped as soon as he sat at the keyboards to start “Afraid of Ghosts”, followed by the equally haunting “Passed Your Place, Saw Your Car, Thought of You”. At first the stage lamps stayed off and left him barely visible under a couple plain overhead light bulbs. You might have almost sworn he was playing in someone’s den in the middle of the night. His mostly one-man performance required just the keyboard console (only used as a drink stand after the couple opening tunes anyway), a small selection of guitars and a single kick drum for the heavier floor-stompers. “21+” featured a guest spot from Gaslight Anthem’s Brian Fallon – another superb pairing of voices – and his tech also came out to beat on a floor tom for the liveliest tune at one point. Otherwise it was all about the songs, the voice and connecting with the crowd.

“Sorry, I know it’s a work night, but y’all are gonna be here a while, alright? It’s not like this is a fuckin’ Kanye West show where the 14-year-olds have to be in bed early,” he cracked midway through. Walker was never shy about putting it all out there, whether singing about hard-hitting personal themes or talking about accidentally hurting himself getting out of the bathtub. Like the music, it’s all about facing the world with all its weird ups and downs. “Nobody should tell you that being 45 years old isn’t fuckin’ hard work. Eat that, Kanye!”

For their part the audience couldn’t have been more enthusiastic, cheering for every song, requesting “Mixtape” and then singing it when Walker admitted he wasn’t totally fresh on the words himself, and happily shouting along with the not-really-comedy of “Race Cars” and “She Likes Hair Bands”. They went nuts at all the right times and were still generally willing to quiet down when it was called for.

The den lighting came back for the encore and it was time for the sad and sentimental again. The Dove & The Wolf returned for a magnificent reading of Amanda McBroom’s classic “The Rose”, which had the room hushed and spellbound. Walker then hit the night’s most powerful point with the final encore of “Father’s Day”, a downright heartbreaking Afraid of Ghosts selection that had seemingly half the room choking up with tears – himself included. It just shows that real men aren’t afraid to cry, and music can be just about the best form of catharsis there is. I’d like to see Kanye try to be half as real as that.

Afraid of Ghosts

Reviewed by: Jane Roser

With a diverse resume and ability to transform his range from one genre to the next, Butch Walker’s highly anticipated seventh full-length album is the culmination of years of blood, sweat and tears explaining that he’s “been waiting to make this album my whole life.”

Released on Dangerbird Records and produced by Ryan Adams at his PAX AM Studios in L.A. along with special guests Johnny Depp and Bob Mould, Afraid of Ghosts chronicles Walker’s life after his father’s death with gritty, haunting ballads. The tracks will tug on your heartstrings and could nearly drown you in bittersweet sorrow, were it not for the beautiful, poetic lyrics which remind you of your humanity and bring you down to earth.

With the exception of “I Love You” (which has a catchy beat), all ten tracks are simple ballads, utilizing acoustic guitar, piano and accordion as their basic accompaniment. “How Are Things, Love” is a lovely waltz in the tradition of 50s Everly Brothers pop-style tunes. “Bed of Fire” was my favorite track; I kept thinking how its percussion driven beat and film noir lyrics would be perfect in a Quentin Tarantino picture. Walker wrote “Autumn Leaves” for an old friend whose wife passed away from cancer; this along with the title track and final song, “The Dark”, he incorporates descriptive narratives to tell tales of love and loss; using sounds, smells and memories to bring these stories to life and to give them depth, hope and, yes, despair.

This album is relatable, poetic and an all-encompassing treasure.

Rating: Bad-Ass