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over ragtime piano and the closing ‘Tombstone Disposition’ sees him musing on

death - ”I’ve been mistreated and I sure don’t mind dying”.

I really enjoyed this record which although it has familiar echoes of bluesmen like
Leadbelly, Barbecue Bob and Mississippi John Hurt, is also distinctly Jerron’s own

work with great playing, singing and song writing and also lots of variety – and yes,
it is very authentic old-style country blues.

Graham Harrison

Martin Harley—Morning Sun—Martin Harley

This is Martin’s eighth album, four were made in
America and four in Britain, including this one - at

Manchester’s Airtight Studio - and it was produced by
Nigel Stonier (who also plays additional instruments).

It’s more Americana than straight blues and he’s joined
by Paddy Milner (piano), Chris (CJ) Hillman (pedal

steel), Mark Lewis (bass) and Michael Blair
(percussion). The opening title track has beautiful

acoustic resonator slide guitar and Martin’s pleasant
vocals reference his recent sobriety, ‘Wolves’ keeps the acoustic slide this time

accompanied by subtle piano and percussion and ‘I’ll Carry You’ is a reflective song
with a modern feel and electric slide. ‘Chop Your Own Wood’ is a loping slow blues

with Martin’s delicious electric slide paired with blues harmonica from Clive Mellor.
The following song ‘48’ refers to Martin’s age – more beautiful slide – acoustic and

electric.

Next up, ‘Best is Yet to Come’ is an up-beat, up-tempo song, while ‘Lemonade’ is a

poignant ragtime-y song with the guitar and piano working well together and

‘Stranger in My Home’ is a moody, Tom Waits-like song with a very distinctive slide
guitar sound – possibly the result of a rubber bridge on the guitar! ‘Shotgun and a

Shovel’ is a lovely country-sounding song show-casing Chris Hillman’s pedal steel
and Martin’s Weissenborn guitar. The closing ‘Kite’ is a restrained, romantic song

written for his two daughters.

This is a very nice album with lots of variety and some great playing, not just from

the front line but also the rhythm section who subtly underpin all the songs. The
production also is first class.

Graham Harrison