Artists:Kieran Kane And Kevin Welch

The guitar talents of Kieran Kane and Kevin Welch have been well documented over the past twenty years or so, and this is something which has been richly deserved. Growing up in and around the Nashville country and roots scene since the early 1980s, both performers have gone on to carve out some pretty impressive musical portfolios, with Welsh’s compositions having been covered by recording artists such as the legendary Waylon Jennings, Roger Miller and Charlie Pride.

Kieran Kane has also explored and produced many styles of textured guitar playing and arrangements over this time and just seems to always tap into the true emotion of any particular piece of music – always extracting the most beautiful progressions. After creating their own record label in the 90s after splits from the majors (Atlantic and Warner), Kieran Kane and Kevin Welch soon formed Dead Reckoning with partners Harry Stinson, Tammy Rogers and Mike Henderson, in the hope of stamping out a new and rejuvenated style of alternative country/Americana sounds.

These aforementioned names and players all banded together to record under the name of The Dead Reckoners and set about recording a collection of bluegrass and country, mainly moving together as a kind of network of friends who play on, and produce each others records to a) keep the recording costs low, and b) to hold on to the independent spirit of what music is all about and hence avoiding the commercial pitfalls of the ‘bigger and badder’ recording stars. This, and this alone, is the true spirit and intended purpose of what making music is all about.

Following on from 2000’s live in Melbourne release which featured Welch and Kane recording live at The Continental, Melbourne, Australia on November 12-13, 1999, and then 2004’s release of You Can’t Save Everybody which featured the method of the duo recording live around the one microphone (which is a familiar part of their live performances), 2006 sees the release of Lost John Dean – a collection of eleven of the most intimate and exquisitely arranged and traditional Appalachian balladry you’ll ever hope to hear this year.

Along with past musical cohort, the multi – instrumentalist guru Fats Kaplin who played on 2004’s You Can’t Save Everybody, the trio set about combining a range of guitar sounds to create something which moves along like a conversation between old friends, particularly when the instrumental dueling moves between the use of banjo, fiddle, electric guitar and pedal steel (played ridiculously well by Kaplin on the closing track, Mellow Down Easy).

The energy levels on Lost John Dean are unbelievably paced and consistent throughout, with moments of restrained beauty rising from the track Heaven, which finds Kevin Welch taking charge on the vocal with a voice that is eerily similar to the late Johnny Cash in both sound/style and in terms of believability. The thing about these guys with both records and live shows is that there’s just absolutely no room afforded for any bullshit … we can hear the professionalism, passion and trust coming through the achingly affecting vocals of both players, on every occasion that they step up to the microphone.

Apparently Kane has referred to the influence and spirit of Bo Diddley coming through on the album and it shows. Together with Welch and Kaplin, the trio constructs a series of narratives which don’t necessarily depend on straight progressions, but do involve a great deal of spontaneity and improvisation – something that Diddley embraced through his time in music and something which Kane, Welch and Kaplin have picked up on and run with. Lost John Dean is like a fine vintage red, a timeless recording which only improves, listen after listen, this is impressive musicianship and reaffirms ones love for music for all the right reasons.