Mandi Layne & The
Lost Highway
Country to the Bone
Aka
The Dark Side of the Moo
I’ve been a
fan of country music since Hector was a
pup, and whenever I stepped up to this piss pot in Bradley’s Barn, he would
growl and snarl like he wanted to go
first. Hector was a first rate pissant when I look at it from the long view. I
truly appreciated country music innovator Owen Bradley and his vision of
melding rock and country and establishing a whole new genre called Country Rock.
Sure the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers copped a feel on the breast of
new wave but it was Michael Nesmith from the Monkees who gave it sepia-toned
realism. In 1968 The Beau Brummel recorded
a masterpiece right then and there and they named their LP Bradley’s Barn, go
figure. It received an incredible outpouring of critical acclaim as a unique and
bold musical statement that fused rock and country with more originality than
the young hippie-dudes who tried too hard to sound like the Louvin Brothers.
Fast forward
to 2007 when Mandi and the boys won the 98.1 Rising Star competition. It was
the beginning of a long and fateful journey for Mandi and her musical partner
Greg Kervorkian. From the very start the band has insisted on core instrumental
precision and great vocals. The band has virtuoso abilities with the use of
electric and acoustic guitars, mandolins, banjo slide, pedal steel, drums and
dobro. The most alluring instrument of all is Mandi Layne’s incredible voice.
She has a great range and can sing low and sexy or hit the higher registers
like a banshee conjuring up a spirit. She is not afraid to belt it out
soulfully, channeling Janis Joplin singing Down on Me or goofing on Loretta
Lynn’s down home wisdom. She’s got the gris gris and it is a powerful notion!
The disc
contains 11 original songs that cherry pick what’s best in modern country music.
Mandi Layne can hold her own with anybody in the biz. She’s got powerful lungs;
a willing diaphragm and can sing from the gut to the back of her throat. Case
in point is the opening track, Summer
Song. Layne’s pure alto soars with the music and lifts the song into the
whole beach vibe. She’s backed up by organ flourishes and jangly guitar. Mandi
and her pals Greg Stryker and Kervorkian wrote the music and lyrics that evoked
a perfect summer’s day…sun and sand and the deep blue water. They do not stand
on their laurels instead they shift gears like a NASCAR pit crew. Speck on the Map is a little tone poem
about hometown boys, stock car races and Sunday church. This tune cranks out a
powerful musical landscape that gets plain folks dancing to rock & roll and
country and getting a righteous groove on. Gary Rivers’ Hammond B-3 pulls it
all together in a powerful blues vibe. Before
Summer’s Gone provides a rich metaphor for growing up and starting to
realize that life is not what it seems, our parents aren’t perfect and neither
are we. It is a sweet melancholy when leaves turn brown and winter is on the
horizon. But Layne stays in the moment, building her memories and her safe
place. The melancholy gradually shifts to triumph that scaffolds the acapella
verse at the coda. Sweet!
Our First Last Kiss recalls Kid Rock tickling Cheryl
Crow’s fancy with his crooked finger and crooked mind. He’s moaning about three
damn days. WTF. But Layne turns it around in a sentimental way; and in doing
so, evokes the bygone era of George Jones and the Possum Holler. This is a
great duet between Layne and Kervorkian. It works despite a link to the mega
hit Picture. Hot Mess is an all out
assault on musical ennui. This is a rocker that takes no prisoners. The throbbing
bassline alone is a sensory attack on your loins and a slug in the chest. The
top notch rhythm section pulls it all together. This should be a #1 hit with a
bullet but…can you say slut in a country song? Mandi may be hot but she’s got
some outlaw in her too. There is a sense of growth and taking chances. This
could be a new direction for the band. They are hitting on all the cylinders
with that naughty Bo Diddley inspired beat and the driving rhythms on the Hillbilly Stomp. The drummer Mark
Sutton is in the pocket throughout the disc. His expert shuffle on Made Me Change My Mind was the glue
that held it all together. Mandi
Layne & the Lost Highway are proving their mettle and actively seeking
musical partners such as Matt Bigler, Chuck Alzanian and Richard Dodd. The engineering
and mixing was done in Nashville and Franklin Tennessee. The album ends with There Goes the Neighborhood, a Cool
Hand Luke failure to communicate but it’s all of kidding on the square. The
song has plenty of humanity and Mandi Layne is in top form in this musical
spoof. She’s channeling Shania and Patsy Cline with a little Loretta on the
side and having good old country fun from cow tipping to name dropping. It’s
like cheering on Billy Joel when he’s spent and out of breath during We Didn’t
Start the Fire but he just can’t stop. Cultural milestones are tagged including
Daisy Dukes, J. Geils, Ford Fairlaine, Gomer Pyle, Ragweed, Shotguns and Rebel
Flags. It’s a crowd pleasing flourish of name dropping and kidding on the
square that should go down well with the fans. Kudos to Matt Bigler’s clean,
crisp production that leaves space for the music to breathe and never too busy
but has enough stops and starts to make it interesting. This is a great body of
music from one of the hardest working bands in Michigan. You can purchase the
CD at www.mandilayne.com and is also available in all digital formats.
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