PORCH SETTERS UNION - news
Review of Farewell to Grapes on the Road
Bluegrass Unlimited - http://bluegrassmusic.com
This Baltimore-based band’s release is a nice vehicle for the songwriting talents of guitarist and lead singer Andy Belt. He’s joined on this project by Warren Boes (guitar), Tony Bonta (banjo), Shawn Heming (mandolin), Dave Markowitz (bass), Jon Ackerman (resonator guitar, Weissenborn), and Chris Bentley (vocals). The theme running through the album is how life tends to get in the way despite our best planning. The selections include the title cut “Farewell To Grapes On The Road,” “Hey Girl,” “Naked When We Started,” “Along The Way,” and “Working For The Man.” “Stay With Me” is a song about holding together, and “Sometimes The Night” talks of the many historical twists that life gives. The band is musically quite good and the arrangements complement Belt’s heartfelt leads. This is quite a good debut for the group.
Review of Farewell to Grapes on the Road
Joe Goldsborough (Merkin Records)
“Farewell to Grapes on the Road,” the new CD from Porch Setters Union, feels like you are catching up with an old friend who you haven’t seen in years. It’s familiar and new at the same time. Calling it Alternative Bluegrass means we have some idea of what it won’t sound like, but Alt-anything can mean style rules over substance and that Mr. Smartypants is ready to get pointlessly ironic and precious on us.
Porch Setters Union will have none of this pretension. They dive right into the good stuff, like the hum-able melodies that stick in your head in a way that has you hitting repeat. The key here is that you don’t have to work to enjoy it. It’s as comfortable as that pair of favorite shoes you love to wear but don’t wear everyday because you want them to last longer.
If you dig deeper, the songs reveal themselves as sophisticated compositions with touches of everyone from Hemingway to Dylan hidden inside. This is Acoustic Music benefiting from Andy Belt’s 30 years of songwriting slight of hand. He makes it look and sound easy, but it’s obviously not. Top notch musicianship and production make sure nothing gets in the way of these well crafted songs.
This natural feeling insures that these songs will end up on shuffle on your iPhone. You don’t need a degree in Musicology to connect with this band, they left all the tedious parts back in the Appalachian hollow. Porch Setters Union has brought all the best flavors together in a recipe that’s not an acquired taste and is simply a joy to listen to.
Heard on the Radio
8/2/2017
Big thanks to KALX 90.7 in Berkeley, CA for playing "Along the Way" from the new Porch Setters Union CD
Heard on the Radio
7/26/2017
Big thanks to KALX 90.7 in Berkeley, CA for playing "Pearly Gates" from the new Porch Setters Union CD.
Heard on the Radio
7/24/2017
Big thanks to KAFM 88.1 in Grand Junction, Colorado for playing "Pearly Gates" from the new Porch Setters Union CD.