Vintage Review: Raging Fire’s These Teeth Are Sharp (2017)

Nashville’s Raging Fire was, perhaps, the best ‘80s-era band that you never heard. As recent as a couple years back, unless you were blessed by the gods of rock ‘n’ roll to have seen one of their Southeastern performances during the band’s too-brief tenure, all that remained of their legacy was a pair of firecracker recordings and a red-hot memory branded into your brain. Formed in 1984, they were gone by ’89, swept away by the plodding hoofbeats of grunge, the architects of the band’s unique sound and fury moving on to jobs, families, and lives outside the realms of rock.

Sometimes the gods smile upon we mere mortals, however, and such was the case when Raging Fire’s surviving members – powerhouse vocalist Melora Zaner, bassist Les Shields, and drummer Mark Medley – decided to take a look back at their collective past and honor the memory of their fallen band members, guitarist Michael Godsey and bassist Lee Carr, by releasing the retrospective set Everything Is Roses, 1985-1989. Collecting every sonic scrap recorded by the band for posterity, as I wrote upon its release, “Everything Is Roses is more than a mere nostalgia-tinted look backwards...the compilation instead a worthy snapshot of a time and place were an outfit as original and energetic as Raging Fire, with an enormous musical chemistry, could develop outside major label demands and expectations.”

Raging Fire’s These Teeth Are Sharp

In the wake of the 2015 release of Everything Is Roses, Raging Fire got back together and, with some friends pitching in to help, they performed a reunion show in Nashville. That led to the writing of some new songs and, long story short, a wondrous new 2017 Raging Fire album titled These Teeth Are Sharp, the band’s 30+ years-in-the-making follow-up to 1986’s Faith Love Was Made Of album. The core gang of Zaner, Medley, and Shields are here along with contributions from friends like guitarists Joe Blanton (The Bluefields, Royal Court of China) and Jeff Cease (The Black Crowes, Rumble Circus) and keyboard wizard Giles Reaves (one of the Music City’s most underrated talents). The old musical chemistry is definitely present, even with addition of the band’s new playmates, making the nine songs to be found on These Teeth Are Sharp every bit as raucous, intelligent, and anarchic as the band has ever been.

From the opening riff of the title track, one can hear the presence of something supernaturally special. Zaner sings unlike any vocalist you’ve ever heard, her kittenish voice capable of twisting emotion into a things of dark beauty while the backing instruments shift directions with whiplash brutality. “A Narrow Sky” shows its talons early on with swooping guitar licks and Zaner’s poetic lyrics yielding devastating imagery like “do you know the feeling when the air closes in as quiet as the grave?” which is sung in an ethereal voice as menacing as it is seemingly innocent. The album’s lone cover, of the 1960’s-era Rufus Thomas hit “Walking the Dog,” is as alien an interpretation of the Memphis soul classic as you’ll ever hear with breathless, stilted vocals, sparse rhythm, and delightfully jagged fretwork that work in spite of the fact that it probably shouldn’t.

By contrast, “Free to Be” is a bouncy pop song with rapid-fire vocals (some sung in Chinese…), Medley’s stormy percussion, jangly guitars, and an altogether energetic vibe that seems like a genetic hybrid of R.E.M. and the Talking Heads but with pure Raging Fire DNA. “Raindances” is a rocker with imaginative guitarplay coupled with John Reed’s concrete bass lines and Medley’s unrelenting drumbeats, tho’ it, too, throws a spanner in the works with quiet passages that crescendo to an explosive finish. These Teeth Are Sharp closes with “Dreams From Under the Love Seat,” one of the band’s few songs with lyrics written by drummer Medley, who displays a knack for imagery-drenched wordplay. Zaner delivers a stellar vocal performance while the guitars sting with the anger of a thousand wasps and the instrumentation, overall, washed over you like a gentle tsunami.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Here in 2017, Raging Fire is, perhaps, the best band that you’ve never heard. This time, however, you can change this sorry status by heading over to the band’s website and grabbing up a copy of These Teeth Are Sharp before Raging Fire once again disappears into the mists of time. The band’s blend of words and music is as alchemical as it’s ever been as they expand upon their original sound without treading across old creative grounds, exploring new creative pathways. There’s plenty for the band’s old fans to like about this year’s model of Raging Fire, and a world of wonder for the newcomer to explore. The gods of rock ‘n’ roll are pleased… Grade: A (Pristine Records, released May 12, 2017)

Review originally published by That Devil Music blog 

Vintage Review: Giles Reaves' Nothing Is Lost (1988)

It may surprise you, but Nashville is rapidly gaining a reputation as a hotbed of “space music,” that ethereal art form which includes a myriad of musical styles and genres, consisting mostly of instrumental pieces and including everything from experimental jazz and esoteric classical works to aggressive noise and electronic wizardry. Creative and innovative musicians such as Anthony Rian, Kirby Shelstad, and William Linton have put the Music City on the New Age music map. The best-known of all our local creators is Giles Reaves.

Reaves, known locally for his engineering skills while associated with the Castle studio, released his first collection of space music a year ago, the brilliant and effervescent album Wunjo. Inspired by the clairvoyant Nordic runes and performed on keyboards and synthesizers with the aid of a computer, Wunjo was a highly-textured and forceful work, and captured the attention and imagination of listeners all over the globe.

As wonderful as his previous album was, Reaves’ latest, Nothing Is Lost, is a more realized work. Exploring a different reality than that on his first recording, Reaves’ new album is a masterful and introspective creation, a rare combination of artistic vision and technical proficiency. Blending traditional instrumentation with synthesizers and the computer, Reaves has created a fully-developed, cohesive collection of pieces. Nothing Is Lost draws from a more diverse sphere of influences and inspiration than Wunjo. An Asian feel pervades side one, incorporating the rhythms and syncopations of the islands to create a textured veil of sound and sensory appeal not unlike the lesser-known works of Brian Eno or the magnificent, Malaysian-influenced dream works of Jon Hassell. The second side of Nothing Is Lost is equally enjoyable, more fragile and mystically oriented than the first side.

Reaves deserves any success or accolade heaped upon him and I, for one, hope that he continues to follow this particular muse in creating further works of this nature. Space Music composers are often ridiculed and patronized by lesser talents in other fields as mere panderers to spiritual muzak. But at their best, they are our generation’s equivalent to the classical composers of centuries past. Nothing Is Lost is no mere New Age snooze, but an intelligent and demanding work of art. It deserves to be listened to, judged and appreciated on these lofty terms of sophistication. It requires nothing less. (The Metro, 1988)

Vintage Review: Aashid Himons & The Mountain Soul Band's West Virginia Hills (1999)

For almost two decades now, Aashid Himons has been Nashville’s most adventuresome musician. Sure, there are lots of players making $1,000 a session up and down “Music Row” who claim to be able to play varying styles of music, but few of them give up their cushy day jobs to blaze any new trails. From the moment Aashid first set foot in the “Music City,” however, he’s done whatever strikes his fancy, whether that might be playing reggae, blues, space music or even a bit of country.

From his work with the first incarnation of the wonderfully talented blu-reggae outfit Afrikan Dreamland through a solo career and various collaborations with other artists, Himons has reveled in the sheer joy of making music, commercial considerations be damned. Recently, with the release of Mountain Soul, Aashid sojourned back to his hillbilly roots and created an inspired collection of songs that draw upon a musical tradition almost as old as the Appalachian Mountains themselves.

Aashid’s West Virginia Hills

West Virginia Hills is a live document of many of the songs from Mountain Soul, performed by Himons and his Mountain Soul Band at Gibson’s Café Milano club in Nashville. Comprised of some of the most underrated musical talents that the Nashville scene has to offer, the Mountain Soul Band is up to the task of recreating these songs in a live setting. It is a testament to Aashid’s talents and the respect provided him by Nashville’s best musicians that Aashid can get artists of this caliber together for such a performance. (I count at least three successful solo artists on this roster as well as former members or players with artists like Lisa Germano, the Cactus Brothers and Bone Pony.)

The material on West Virginia Hills is a spirited mix of blues, bluegrass, roots rock and country with elements of Celtic and African music. With spiritual and musical influences that range from the highest mountaintop in Appalachia to the lowest cotton field in the Mississippi Delta, the performances here possess the soul and fervor of a church revival and the energy and electricity of a mosh pit at any punk show. Although many of the songs are originals, such as the joyful title track or the Delta-styled “Country Blues,” there are also the covers expected of such a project, musical homages to the artists who created this music: folks like Willie Dixon, Blind Willie McTell, and Muddy Waters. Aashid’s “The Captain’s Song” is another highlight of the Mountain Soul album performed here live.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

There are fewer and fewer artists these days willing to “walk on the wild side” and embrace styles of music that are completely without commercial potential. Some, like Bruce Springsteen’s flirtation with folk music or Steve Earle’s recent bluegrass project, are natural outgrowths of the artist’s roots. In other instances, however, as with Aashid Himons and the members of the Mountain Soul Band, it is done out of a sheer love and respect for the music they’re performing. The material presented with much skill and reverence on West Virginia Hills is more than a mere throwback to another era – it’s also the root of all the music we enjoy today. For that alone, Aashid and the Mountain Soul Band deserve a loud “thanks!” (Soptek Records, released 1999)

Vintage Review: Aashid Himons' Mountain Soul (1998)

Aashid Himons has been a fixture of Nashville’s non-country music scene for long that it’s easy to take him for granted. One of the founders of the near-legendary “blu-reggae” band Afrikan Dreamland during the early-1980, Aashid has been the voice of conscious of the Music City’s alternative culture for almost two decades now. Whether as a musician exploring the depths of reggae, space music, or the blues; a documentary filmmaker; host of the influential Aashid Presents television show; or as a crusader for many social causes, Aashid’s multi-media talents have always been intelligent, vital, and thought-provoking.

Aashid’s Mountain Soul

Nonetheless, Aashid’s latest musical effort – the Mountain Soul CD – comes as a surprise in spite of his past track record as an innovator and trailblazer. A collection of country blues, hillbilly folk, and other traditionally-styled music, Aashid has shown us yet another facet of his immense talent with Mountain Soul’s enchanting performances. An African-American with his roots in the mountains of West Virginia, Himons explains the lineage of this material in the CD’s liner notes. In the harsh hills of Virginia and West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, African slaves often played music alongside the poor Irish and Scottish immigrants of the area. The resulting collaboration created a folk music tradition that spawned such genres as gospel, bluegrass, blues and country music.

To be honest, there aren’t many musicians these days exploring the artistic milieu that Mountain Soul showcases so nobly. On Mountain Soul, Aashid works alongside some of Nashville’s best – and most underrated – musicians, folks like Giles Reaves, fiddle wizard Tramp, and bassist Victor Wooten. Himons has created a mesmerizing song cycle that incorporates original songs written in the authentic signature of the hills as well as a handful of timeless classics. Aashid’s commanding baritone is perfectly suited to this material, whether singing a soulful, blues-infused cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child,” the mournful spiritualism of Rev. Gary Davis’ “You Got To Move,” or on originals like the moving “Stranger In Paradise” or with the talking blues and nifty guitar work on “The Crazy Blues.”

One of my personal favorites on Mountain Soul is “Mr. Bailey,” Aashid’s tribute to the first star of the Grand Ole Opry, harmonica wizard Deford Bailey. A talented and charismatic African-American musician from East Tennessee, Bailey’s lively performances popularized the Opry radio broadcast in the thirties and helped launched the careers of such country legends as Roy Acuff and Bill Monroe. Tragically, Bailey’s contributions to the Opry and American music have been forgotten. It has long been Aashid’s crusade to get Bailey his long-deserved place in the Country Music Hall of Fame, and this song is just another reminder of that glaring injustice.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Mountain Soul is definitely not an album for the casual user of music, requiring more than a three minute, radio-influenced and MTV-bred attention span. Although the album’s style and often simple instrumentation might not seem so upon first listen, these are frightfully complex songs – musically multi-layered and emotionally powerful. This is music as old as the earth itself, its origins in the blood and sweat and tears of the common people who created it.

With Mountain Soul, Aashid Himons has paid an honor to both the roots of all popular modern music and the forgotten artists who wrote it. Mountain Soul is an artistically and spiritually enriching listening experience, a musical trip through time that will clear the cobwebs out of your ears, rekindle the fire in your heart and remind you of the reasons you began to love music in the first place. (Gandibu Music, released 1998)