JASON RINGENBERG : RHINESTONED

JASON RINGENBERG : RHINESTONED

Before Love and War
The Freedom Rides Weren't Free
Nashville Without Rhinestones
The Storms are on the Ocean (with Kristi Rose)
Christ The Lord is Risen Today
I Rode with Crazy Horse
My Highway Songs
Time Warp
You Win Again
Stoned on Rhinestones
Keep That Promise
Window Town

Label : Courageous Chicken Music

Release Date : March 5, 2021

Length : 49:21

Review (Bluestown Music) : De Amerikaanse singer-songwriter en gitarist Jason Ringenberg (22 november 1958, Kewanee, Illinois), verhuist in 1981 naar Nashville, Tennessee en richt daar de alternatieve countryband Jason & the Scorchers op. Met deze baanbrekende band brengt hij een groot aantal albums uit. Hun debuutalbum 'Lost & Found' verschijnt in 1985. Maar tegelijkertijd timmert punk-country-rocker Ringenberg ook aan de weg als soloartiest. Deze maand verschijnt, drie jaar na 'Stand Tall', zijn nieuwe soloalbum 'Rhinestoned'. COVID-19, de politieke situatie in zijn vaderland met Black Lives Matter waren een bron van inspiratie voor dit nieuwe album. En er lagen ook nog een aantal nummers die niet op zijn vorige album 'Stand Tall' pasten. Het nieuwe album wordt gecompleteerd met een aantal bewust gekozen covers. Het album is opgenomen in de Tone Chaparal Studio van multi-instrumentalist George Bradfute in Madison, Tennessee. De studio is gehuisvest in het huis waar countryzanger Jim Reeves ooit woonde. Met de melodieuze countryrocker Before Love and War komt de stemming er meteen in. Lekker gitaarwerk en backing vocals van Kristi Rose. The Freedom Rides Weren't Free is een politiek getinte song over de Civil Rights Movement in de roerige jaren '60 van de vorige eeuw in de VS met rassenrellen en vredesmarsen. Dat Ringenberg niet veel op heeft met de veranderingen in de muziekstad Nashville maakt hij duidelijk in het intens gezongen Nashville Without Rhinestones. Een van de hoogtepunten is de verpletterend mooie versie, met fiddle, accordeon en het duet met Kristi Rose, van The Storms Are On the Ocean van The Carter Family. De Engelse theoloog en methodistenleider Charles Wesley zal zich ongetwijfeld in zijn graf omdraaien bij Ringenberg's rockende versie van diens hymne Christ the Lord is Risen Today uit 1739. In Rode With Crazy Horse vertelt Ringenberg over zijn tocht te paard naast het opperhoofd van de Oglala Lakota stam, die in 1877 de dood vond in Fort Robinson, Nebraska. My Highway Songs is een schitterende melodieuze countrysong met pedal steel, fiddle, mandoline, cello en bariton gitaar. Time Warp is een sprankelende cover van The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, en een andere cover, You Win Again van Hank Williams, krijgt een strakke uitvoering met pedal steel en een scheurende mondharp. Stoned On Rhinestones is pure uptempo countryrock in de beste traditie van Jason & the Scorchers en het geluid van de Scorchers dringt ook door in de luidruchtige gitaarrocker Keep That Promise. Het slotnummer, de melodieuze countrysong Window Town, heeft een hoog Nick Lowe gehalte. De fameuze steel van George Bradfute mag hier zeker niet onvermeld blijven. Conclusie: Rhinestoned is een fantastisch album.

Review (Written In Music) : Jason Ringenberg die in de jaren tachtig brandhaarden stichtte op de podia met driftige cowpunk met The Scorchers trok zich terug op de boerderij, had het daar als Farmer Jason best naar zijn zin en verspreide tussendoor nog enkele werkstukken. De voorganger Stand Tall pookte het muzikale vuur terug aan en ongebruikte songs van die sessies vormen de aanleiding om een vervolg. Dat kwam tot stand in de door producer Bradflute tot studio omgebouwde kelder van de voormalige woonst van countryman Jim Reeves. Bradflute die eerder samenwerkte met Jason bepotelt alle mogelijke snaarinstrumenten terwijl Fats Kaplin daar magische pedalsteel en fiddle klanken aan toevoegt. Het was de bedoeling om periodes van de Amerikaanse Country in kaart te brengen. Christ The Lord Is Risen Today is een uit de negentiende eeuw daterende hymne die Jason samen met zin dochters Addie en Camille in intieme, familiale kring brengt. De country familie bij uitstek mocht niet ontbreken, The Storms Are on the Ocean is een fraai duet met Kristi Rose. Het van Ozark Mountain Daredevils afkomstige Time Warp krijgt een puike rockende billy reprise terwijl Hank Williams' You Win Again in een wat ruwere outlaw versie gepresenteerd wordt. Jason kijkt met respect terug naar het Nashville van weleer maar de huidige rol van countrymekka Music City krijgt meer dan een welverdiende veeg uit de pan van de rebelse ervaringsdeskundige in het ogenschijnlijk vrolijk huppelende Nashville Without Rhinestones. 'But on the horizon I see a sinking ship filled with hilbilly ghosts on their final trip', een overduidelijk citaat dat naast een foto van de auteur prijkt in de binnenflap. Keep That Promise herinnert even aan de onstuimige punkrock van The Scorchers periode. De meest memorabele momenten beleven we met het oorlogsepos Before Love And War en het met de onvoltooide, raciale strijd in het Zuiden verbonden The Freedom Riders Aren't Free. Geïnspireerd en sociaal geëngageerd songwerk dat samen met het letterlijk uit een droom geplukte visioen I Rode With Crazy Horse een perfecte hattrick vormt. Rhinestoned ademt een weldoende hillbilly sfeer uit en behoort ongetwijfeld bij het betere werk van Jason Ringenberger.

Review (That Devil Music) : Jason & the Scorchers frontman Jason Ringenberg is a pioneering Americana legend who has also enjoyed a critically-acclaimed and modestly-successful solo career that kicked off with 2000's A Pocketful of Soul, which was followed by 2002's All Over Creation. In between these efforts, Ringenberg pursued a third distinct career as "Farmer Jason," recording goofy yet deceptively sly albums for kid (and their parents). He took some time off after 2004's Empire Builders, reunited with the Scorchers for 2010's landmark Halcyon Times album, and then returned to his family and life in Tennessee. Jason Ringenberg's Rhinestoned The offer of an "artist in residency" program at Sequoia National Park in California proved to be too alluring to pass by, however, and with newfound clarity and purpose (and a bunch of new songs), Ringenberg came roaring back with 2019's incredible Stand Tall album. The Roots of Stand Tall appeared last year, the album a sort of "making of" trip and, when 2020 rolled around, Ringenberg had songs left over that didn't quite fit onto Stand Tall. In a press release for his new album, Jason states "these weren't enough to make another record, nor did I have the fire to embark on another recording project." When the Covid lockdown started, though, Jason says that "songs began to pour out. I felt increasingly excited and driven to record again. I put a guitar and recorder by my bed. I was ready to jump on any idea like a Revolutionary War Minuteman waiting to be called by Paul Revere." The result is Ringenberg's finest solo album to date, Rhinestoned. The man himself says "the songs rolled out rather heavy. I reckon that was to be expected, with a world grappling with a pandemic and the United States embroiled in racial strife." A historian in his own lyrical manner, Jason easily ties together events from yesteryear with contemporary themes to create a strong song cycle that has one foot in the past and an eye towards the future. Rhinestoned kicks off with the Dylanesque "Before Love and War," a poetic rocker that shines with producer/guitarist George Bradfute's shimmering fretwork, Fats Kaplin's sweeping steel guitar, and emotionally-charged vocals. Ringenberg's "The Freedom Rides Weren't Free" is another up-tempo rocker with brilliant, timely lyrics that reflect the "Black Lives Matter" protests while speaking of the sacrifices of the Freedom Riders, who fought for civil rights in the early '60s. Jason delivers a powerful vocal performance for a song into which he invests a lot of heart and soul. Nashville Without Rhinestones Ringenberg has lived in the Nashville area for better than 40 years, and dabbled in the country music field, so he knows what he speaks of in "Nashville Without Rhinestones," a folk-styled song with lyrics spoken, rather than sung against a rolling instrumental backdrop. Jason bemoans the loss of the "old" Nashville not in the manner of some aging crank, but rather as a traditionalist who isn't so much criticizing the city's progress as much as mourning what it's leaving behind. "Out on the horizon, I see a sinking ship," he sings, "filled with hillbilly ghosts on their final trip," nodding to the Music City's rich cultural heritage by playing "an old LP" from 1963, 1953, 1943, etc., throughout the lengthy history of country & western music. Jason pays further tribute to the "Old Nashville" with a charming cover of the Carter Family's country classic "The Storms Are On the Ocean." A duet with the incredibly-talented Kristi Rose, their two voices recreate pure magic in the grooves. Only Ringenberg could take an antiquated hymn like "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" and turn it into a rock song, but with a little vocal assistance from two of his daughters (Addie and Camille), and soaring Bradfute guitarplay, the song manages to be both reverent and joyfully rowdy. Ringenberg's "I Rode with Crazy Horse" is one of the album's most interesting songs, with its germination in a dream. Says Jason, "I woke up and immediately hummed the words and melody into my phone recorder. I am enormously proud of that song." A rollicking story-song, Ringenberg states that its "story is loosely based on an old Lakota/Oglala legend that one of Crazy Horse's cousins rode and fought beside him through every battle, even to his death at Fort Robinson." Riding a timeworn C&W beat like a galloping horse, the story unfolds into a fascinating tale accompanied by Bradfute's ringing guitars and a locomotive rhythms courtesy of drummer Steve Ebe's relentless percussion. Stoned On Rhinestones Jason Ringenberg 2021 photo by Scott WillisThe semi-autobiographical "My Highway Songs" is the perfect antidote to today's insipid "pop country" music with Ringenberg's high-lonesome vocals sitting atop a twangy yet lush instrumental soundtrack, the self-reflective lyrics of an aging rocker wondering if "there's a place in the world for my highway songs?" The music is simply gorgeous, with Kaplin's weeping pedal steel standing out, and the song itself is worthy of a tradition built by Hank Williams and Johnny Cash. Speaking of which, Jason's cover of ol' Hank's "You Win Again" is a beautiful contemporary take on the honky-tonk gem, Ringenberg imbuing the song with plenty of pathos and heartache while the band choogles on behind him. A cover of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils' song "Time Warp" (from 1975's The Car Over the Lake album) is a swinging nod to country music's influence on 1970s-era Southern rock. With "Stoned On Rhinestones," Ringenberg takes a sly look at the allure of country music stardom, his humorous lyrics bouncing off a rockin' hillbilly musical backdrop to cleverly (and honestly) describe both the ups and the downs of a life on stage. The grand romantic ambitions of "Keep That Promise" could easily have been a Jason & Scorchers tune, with guitarist Warner Hodges shooting off sparks while Jason sings of star-crossed lovers. As it is, Bradfute and company do a fine job raising the roof, providing stinging fretwork and a dense rhythmic canvas for Jason to paint on. Rhinestoned closes with "Window Town," another poetic lyrical turn that obliquely speaks of the difficulty of personal relationships in the modern world. The soundtrack is hauntingly beautiful, masterfully blending country and rock with filigree guitar and pedal steel (and Kristi Rose's harmony vocals) playing off a solid rhythmic foundation. The Reverend's Bottom Line Jason says it better than I ever could, stating that "taken all together, this is a record populated by old souls and ghosts - both people and places. The main song cycle of Rhinestoned examines my relationship with a changing Nashville and its role in country music." Although many of the album's songs look backwards, they're also contemplative of the future in a time of doubt and apprehension. Recorded during the Covid era with the attendant social distancing, and ably assisted by guitarist and producer George Bradfute, in whose Tone Chaparral studio the album was recorded, Ringenberg and his collaborators nevertheless managed to crank out a timeless and enduring collection of spirited country-rock music that is both uplifting and entertaining.and who could ask for better in these trying days and times? (Courageous Chicken Records, released March 5th, 2021)