Album Review: Warrick & Lowell

For a few years now Warrick & Lowell have been gigging around our Queen City. Playing the Southgate House or The Crow's Nest along with playing the Whispering Beard Folk Festival, and now, finally, they have a put out an album of eight cut your teeth on country tunes. The band is comprised of the brothers Ford Robert and Jon, with friends Zaq Fox (drums and percussion), Thomas Costa (keys), and Mark Van Patten throwing down the low end and electric guitar as well as mixing the album. The wait is finally over and they truly make the old saying real "patience is a virtue beholden by few." They truly made it worth it.

Within the eight songs there's driving melodies that pound like a jackhammer, or the reflexive look into life with "No Home in Ohio." Anyway that I have tried to slice this pie, I always come back to that this is a pure country record. In the vain of those that came before and even intentionally to tip their caps to those that tread this path as well. They blend beautifully the country rhythm and blues. This hits all the notes of it, after so many listens there is even a little bit of soul in there breathing through their keyboards and guitars. Not forgetting the driving rhythm of the drums that keeps everyone in line. The songwriting is honest and contains subject matter that doesn't disappoint. Characters that seem real, or the inner monologue of the writer simply transposing itself onto and into a song.

The songs are not pretty, they have a rust about them. Little knicks and little dings that give them character. The songs can be a beautiful cacophony of organized loudness, which made me take a deep breath and a smile washed over me. For a debut album, I wasn't sure what I was going to hear, and after the first listen I smiled. W&L while it may have taken them a while to release this album the payoff to that wait definitely makes it worth it. I've listened to the album three times now and plan on listening to it more as it has not left my cd player in my car. This album is a must buy that showcases, yet again. the wealth of musical talent we have in our Queen City. You can check ‘em out at warrickandlowell.com and on Facebook and Instagram as well. Most of all go see these guys and get your paws on this album.

<a href="http://warrickandlowell.bandcamp.com/album/warrick-lowell">Warrick & Lowell by Warrick & Lowell</a>

Moose Gronholm

Moose is originally from Chicago. The river's howl and the string band music brought him here via steel horse known as a Ford Taurus in 2011. He found the pen and word before he could play a note on a guitar. He experiences life and writes about it. See the country and of its wondrous places. Those are his two mottos. He loves Whitman, Thoreau, Emerson, and Kerouac, Shakespeare, Dr. Seuss, Alcott, and Atwood. That's Moose, a simple dude who loves music and writing, and his family.