I have this feeling, now almost a certainty, that living immersed in places dominated by nature, rural, real, where work is hard and life is not easy, helps folk and country music to feed on authentic feelings that the life of cities and metropolis can never give you. Personal opinion of course, certainly cities also offer important talents, but this type of music, the country folk with bluegrass flavor in places like the Ozarks Mountains, finds fertile ground. James Green, leader of Broken Binding, comes from South West Missouri and has always been immersed in the nature of these places and its sound neither impregnated. A direct and sincere music, which flows from his guitar in his garage and goes directly to the recording studio. Helped by a great band that has been with him for some time, the good James after over 20 years of life in various bands in his area, decided that it was finally time to put his ideas and his songs on paper. I guess it must not have been easy with so many ideas in mind and so many influences but the result is really excellent. The 9 pieces of this Through the Night tell stories of hope but also of despair, a kind of journey through real life experiences, work, losses and conquests. The sound that comes out of the speakers when we start the title track is not well defined, it is not a genre that you can easily catalog and maybe this is also the result of the various musical experiences of Green. He played rock, he played punk rock and then he also played country and bluegrass. There’s a lot of flavor to all this music, even though Aaron Collins‘ banjo and Mike Blehm’s steel guitar anchor this piece to the land of the Ozarks. Exhilarating and really exciting. I understand why the leader said he chose the name of the album because this song has kidnapped the whole band. But also the next track, Adelaide, with her banjo and her flavor of western ballad, likes it very much and the voice of James Green is suitable to tell these stories. It is a bluegrass country ballad but there is a lot of rock in the structure of the song and in the appeal of the piece. Fire in Stone is a rhythmic song, one of those tragic folk ballads but that have a rhythm to beat with the foot, the band does an excellent job and then explodes in the second part of the piece with a ride even here frontier flavor, banjo guitars and steel guitar intertwined in a tight ending. Heaven Knows begins with an intro to the piano, unusual for a bluegrass folk record and in fact the piece has an almost rock soul, an intense ballad that however does not clash with this album with such varied influences. The songwriting of James Green is varied and convincing, having played around the premises for over 20 years has brought experience and safety in their vehicles. Splendid the slow country acoustic of I’ll Leave My Heart With You where the voice of James Green gives us its best, embellishes the whole delicate banjo sound in the background. The work closes with the almost punk rock bass of Tail Lights, a track that steers decidedly towards American street rock, guitar and rhythm. It doesn’t clash at all with the rest of this beautiful record, on the contrary it gives it an unexpected and pleasant variety. The work of the guitars is really remarkable, splendid the solo of Shawn Brockert set at the end of the piece. A perfect way to finish a record that really amazed me positively. I certainly don’t find out today, but there is a lot of talent in the undergrowth of American music, many independent artists who deserve attention and I’m always happy to discover new ones. A debut that gives hope for the continuation of the career of James Green and his The Broken Binding, a varied record and never boring or repetitive that surely will remain in my playlist for a long time.
Good listening,
Trex Willer by http://www.ticinonotizie.it
(you can find original italian article at this link : https://www.ticinonotizie.it/the-broken-binding-through-the-night-2022-by-trex-roads/ )
