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South85 - El Camino
August 8th, 2008 by Kathleen Wehle
From PerformerMag.com
Produced
by Mike Bader, Kathy Neal, Ted Kynard and Bill Noonan | Recorded
at Lazy Ridge Music in Concord, NC
Released Memorial Day Weekend, South85’s El Camino is a perfect country- fried bluesy rock album to add to the summer roadtrip soundtrack, especially for those cowgirls and belles wearied by love.
Inspired by country and Americana music as by acts like Marshall Tucker, Loretta Lynn, Old Crow Medicine Show and Gillian Welch, the band takes its name from the highway stretching from the heart of South Carolina out westward to Atlanta. For the bandmates, 85 is the road that always leads home in the northwest of South Carolina, AKA the Upstate. The band is made up of Tracy Wyatt on lead vocals, Kathy Neal on backup vocals and guitar (she also wrote all the songs on the album and helped produce it), Mike Bader, who plays guitar, dobro and banjo (he also produced), and Ashley Conine providing finishing touches with her harmonica and mandolin.
The album title is El Camino, which has two meanings. In Spanish, the phrase means “the road.” In American culture, it is the name of the Chevy car-truck hybrid that was popular in the late 1960s into the 1980s; this car is featured on the cover of the album. Among the 12 tracks there are obvious homages to country’s leading ladies: “Firefly” is reminiscent of Lynn and McEntire, telling the story of a wistful heroine seizing destiny before it slips by; “Chains” is more of fearless declarative ballad in the style of Yearwood, and “Hold Me” is more intimate in the style of (Faith) Hill. “Rosalie” is more bluesy-rock. “Sex and Laundry” and “The History of Scooter Scum” are two unique tracks on the album, reflecting wit and originality in subject matter, indicating South85 has a long road ahead of them if they’re willing to take risks about subject matter with the backdrop of life and love experiences.
Through instrumentation, apt twangy soprano voice, perfect harmonies and well-versed lyricism, the listener is taken up and down the El Camino of experience with South85 on a very personal journey. (Self-released)
-Kathleen Wehle
