MICHAEL McDERMOTT : ST. PAUL'S BOULEVARD

1. Intro - Anam Cara
2. Where The Light Gets In
3. Our Little Secret
4. Sick Of This Town
5. The Arsonist
6. New Year's Day
7. Meet Me Halfway
8. The Outer Drive
9. Marlowe
10. All That We Have Lost
11. Dead By Dawn
12. St. Paul's Boulevard
13. Pack The Car
14. Peace, Love And Brilliant Colors
15. Paris

Label : Pauper Sky Records

Release Date : 2022

Length : 64:34

Review (Americana Highways) : Chicago-based Michael McDermott has a lightweight well-focused concept LP here. He focuses on lost & found people, rich, poor, young & old who struggle to survive & experience heartbreak & shame while trying to find their place in the world. Subjects that are just part of life. Not so much inherent issues that challenge only a few. Everyone through their lives is challenged – mentally, physically & financially. Finding peace within one’s life is a lifelong search. Today, tomorrow & all who lived so many yesterdays ago. Michael McDermott McDermott’s a sound writer who addresses adeptly social & emotional disputes within our souls. He’s produced many fine LPs in his career & with critical acclaim. That must be worth something. I’m still listening so he must be doing something right. Produced by Michael (guitars/vocals/piano) & Steven Gillis (drums) the 15-cut St. Paul’s Boulevard (Drops May 20–Pauper Sky Records) explores personal songs that are universal & parallel the frustrations of many people who haven’t reached their lofty peaks yet. But they’ve not shattered hopes – just postponed. Ask yourself, what if Sun Records secretary Marion Keisker didn’t recommend Elvis Presley to Sam Phillips? How close did Bruce Springsteen’s career go up in smoke because writers said he was the “new” Dylan? Kiss of death. My concern with this music is that the general audience today is all about rap, hip-hop, showboating, smoke machines, dance steps & bombastic performances. Serious artists can only get up so many rungs on the ladder. Then must be satisfied they’re on the ladder at all. McDermott isn’t a song & dance man. He’s a serious artist. Not necessarily a folk singer either. He’s about as important, pertinent & reinforcing as James Taylor, Cat Stevens (Yusef Islam), Peter Himmelman, & John Hiatt. There’s a Tin Pan Alley quality, with intense songwriter delicacy that isn’t mainstream pop music. “Pack the Car,” though — is an ass-kicking beauty of a rocker. “All That We Have Lost,” has Bruce Springsteen weight. Excellent. “Sick of This Town,” is engaging. Michael’s blessed with a unique voice – similar to James Maddock. “The Arsonist,” & “Meet Me Halfway,” treads into Maddock territory (“My Old Neighborhood”) & does so with expertise. “Paris,” is lovely — like Peter Sarstedt’s 1969 poetic classic “Where Do You Go To My Lovely.” Mike writes similar compelling lyrics & music that appeals to a core dedicated audience that listens. No one’s going to say it doesn’t rock enough, or his ballads are syrupy. The loyal fan follows – they have to believe the artist & his journey. Michael McDermott – believe him.

Review (Americana UK) : Michael McDermott is over thirty years into his career which started just as heartland rock was being overtaken by americana as the home for roots rockers. His music is a perfect fit for this now jaded term due to the quality of his songwriting which is informed by his own real-life experiences, and those of others, and an honest style of music to bring his lyrics to life. He started his career in the folk venues of his native Chicago, and while his music garnered early critical recognition, he has remained a true working musician whose career has had its challenges, and he has had to face up to the challenges of daily life that his potential listeners also face. There is the whiff of the concept album around ‘St. Paul’s Boulevard’ because it is a loose series of songs about the inhabitants of a fictional street and their daily challenges. Whatever the genesis of the album and its construction, it is also possibly the best album of Michael McDermott’s long career. Just because an artist’s style bears comparison to a music legend, in Michael McDermott’s case it is Bruce Springsteen, doesn’t negate the value of his own artistic statements and specifically the quality of his songwriting. The musicians helping on ‘St. Paul’s Boulevard’ include McDermott’s wife Heather Lynne Horton on violin, roots rock sideman extraordinaire Will Kimbrough on all things stringed, leading Chicago keyboardist and arranger Vijay Tellis-Nayak, Matt Thompson on bass, Grant Tye on guitar, roots rock guitar slinger David Grissom, Danny Mitchell also on piano, and co-producer Steven Gillis plays drums. The songs that McDermott has recorded this time are informed through personal experience but given shape by the imaginary inhabitants of St. Paul’s Boulevard. While there are certainly big problems in the world, here the problems that are being explored are those that everyone experiences in daily life. It is about disappointment and shattered dreams but also about resilience and how people pick themselves up and keep trying. Following a spoken word introduction, the opening track ‘When The Light Gets In’ sets the overall tone of the album with its ultimately positive message that light will eventually reach even the darkest places. Next ‘Our Little Secret’ is a reflection on the casual liaisons that touring musicians can have. McDermott brings another perspective to relationships with ‘The Arsonist’ which celebrates the woman who helped him modify his wilder behaviour. ‘New Year’s Day’ and ‘Meet Me Halfway’ continue to explore the dynamics of relationships. Breaking free of the challenges of daily life is a repeated theme with titles like ‘Sick Of This Town’ and ‘Pack The Car’ but one is a ballad while the other is a lively defiant single. He looks at the challenges posed to Chicago residents by those who have succumbed to urban vices in ‘The Outer Drive’. If anyone was in any doubt, Michael McDermott and his band can rock out when they want to as on ‘All We Have Lost’ and ‘Dead By Dawn’. Will Kimbrough’s mandolin brings a lightness of touch and a sense of hope to the final track ‘Paris’. There is a real craft to Michael McDermott’s songwriting and his lyrics are clear and to the point, avoiding the traps of over simplicity and pretentiousness. ‘St. Paul’s Boulevard’ is real music played by musicians who care about their art and the fact that the music may not break new ground as Dylan or Springsteen did in their formative years is not the point because ‘St Paul’s Boulevard’ is good enough to stand next shoulder to shoulder to any album of real music released over the last few years. Michael McDermott’s fans will love this album and if you are new to his music then this is an ideal entry point. This is an album with a concept that works.