Tag: Eagles

Character Studies — Jeremy Porter and The Tucos Create Relatable Protagonists on “Sell Their Souls” Album

From left: Jake Reilly, Jeremy Porter, and Troy Toma of Jeremy Porter and The Tucos. Photo – Noreen Porter

As a proficient songwriter, Jeremy Porter brings compelling characters to life.

His characters range from dogs and kids to Shakespearean sidekicks and ranch hands, and together they face regrets, challenges, and hard lessons in different situations.

They’re prominently featured throughout the 12 tracks on Sell Their Souls, Porter’s latest multigenre album with The Tucos.

“It wasn’t really intentional,” said Porter, who’s based in Plymouth, Michigan. “I think you just summed up all the different things that I tend to write songs about. Regret is a constant theme, and it seems in my lyrics that I keep coming back to that.”

To create relatable protagonists, Porter draws inspiration from a variety of TV shows and films, including Wes Anderson movies, neo-Western dramas, and true-crime documentaries.

“I get a lot of inspiration from that,” Porter said. “If I hear somebody say something on the screen that catches my ear, I’ll put it right into my phone, and I’ll build a song around it.”

But his storied lyrics are only part of the equation for Sell Their Souls. The turbocharged, fearless instrumentation from Porter (guitar, vocals, piano, lap steel) and Tucos bandmates Gabriel Doman (drums, vocals, percussion, piano, guitar) and Jake Reilly (bass, vocals) provides the other crucial portion. (The band’s current live drummer is Troy Toma.)

“This is a bit of a heavier record for us, and it’s a bit more rock than we usually do,” said Porter, who released the album via GTG Records. “I always like albums like The Who’s The Who Sell Out. I wanted [the album’s title] to be like that, like a news headline—Jeremy Porter and The Tucos Sell Their Souls—that’s a sentence.”

I recently spoke with Porter ahead of an October 10 album release show at Parts and Labor Bar in Melvindale.

Continue reading “Character Studies — Jeremy Porter and The Tucos Create Relatable Protagonists on “Sell Their Souls” Album” →

Joint Adventure – The Whiskey Charmers Blaze New Sonic Trails for ‘On the Run’ Album

The Whiskey Charmers 2 2022
The Whiskey Charmers capture an adventurous sonic spirit for “On the Run.” Photo courtesy of The Whiskey Charmers

The Whiskey Charmers thoughtfully choose their own adventure.

The Detroit alt-country duo of Carrie Shepard (vocals, acoustic guitar) and Lawrence Daversa (electric and steel guitars, backing vocals) explore and weather life-changing terrain on their new Odyssean album, On the Run.

“When we were trying to think of an all-encompassing title, we started realizing how much that theme goes through the record, the On the Run theme,” said Shepard about the album out today via Sweet Apple Pie Records.

“We didn’t have a specific theme before going into the record because we actually recorded about 20 songs at once. We picked half that we thought would go well together for this first one, and we have half that we’re hoping to release next year.”

As the first half, On the Run journeys through melodic Laurel Canyon soundscapes, ‘70s-inspired country-rock instrumentation fused with hard-rock, psych-rock, blues and funk elements, and daring tales of growth and reflection. Collectively, the album’s 10 tracks serve as the ideal sonic companion for an open-ended road trip.

“The last two records featured the same guitar and the same amp that I play with live all the time. I just brought different stuff in because I was playing different stuff … and some songs like ‘Billy’ seemed like it needed to be a little more aggressive,” Daversa said.

“I did a whole run-through of that song and sent it to some guitar-player friends of mine and one friend was like, ‘Yeah, I hear what you’re trying to do on that, but that ain’t it.’ At first I was like, ‘Forget you, man,’ and then I started thinking about it. He was right because I changed it to what we do now, and I think it turned out a lot better.”

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Fleetwood Mac, Eagles Fuel Musical Nostalgia at Dodger Stadium for The Classic West

Fireworks explode over Dodger Stadium after Fleetwood Mac’s performance at The Classic West.

LOS ANGELES – Brilliant-colored fireworks exploded over Dodger Stadium as Fleetwood Mac closed out their two-hour set for The Classic West Sunday night.

Hues of red, green, yellow and blue popped over the crowd while the legendary band performed a spirited version of “Don’t Stop.”

The “Rumours” hit single served as the perfect ending to The Classic West, a new two-day classic rock music festival based in Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium featuring the Eagles, Steely Dan, Journey, The Doobie Brothers and Earth, Wind & Fire.

Curated by Irving Azoff in response to last year’s profitable Desert Trip, The Classic West is the ultimate recipe for whipping up a memorable dish of music nostalgia – early 1970s classic and folk rock fused with jazz-inspired tunes, southern California harmonies, groovy R&B, disco and arena rock anthems.

It also served as the perfect time musical time machine for nearly 50,000 attendees and me. I was ready to board a mythical aircraft similar to the one featured on the cover of Journey’s 1981 album, “Escape,” and travel back to a bygone era.

Continue reading “Fleetwood Mac, Eagles Fuel Musical Nostalgia at Dodger Stadium for The Classic West” →