Mill River

Collection Contents

#		Title	Length
1		Nothing to Fear	4:22	Play
2		Shame Shame Shame	2:33	Play
3		Mill River	3:20	Play
4		Love Again	4:59	Play
5		Sally	4:59	Play
6		Tonight I Will	4:55	Play
7		The City	5:34	Play
8		Did We See Each Other	3:58	Play
9		Dear Grandpa	4:27	Play
10		Long Long Time	5:10	Play
11		Amarillo Sun	4:08	Play
12		Never Works Out	2:54	Play
13		I Still Miss You	2:52	Play

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Description	Amount
Bitmunk Marketplace Service	USD $0.98
CD Baby Artist Royalty	USD $5.97
CD Baby 9% Digital Distribution Cost	USD $0.54
Bitmunk Download Service	USD $0.74
Bitmunk MicroPayment Service	USD $0.01
Total	USD $8.22

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Description

Sky Smeed

Mill River (self-released)

Berkshires-by-way-of-Kansas Sky Smeeds first two CDs were wonderful, unhurried affairs. Great songwriting, expressive singing, but much was downtempo, often to the point of being zen-like. Nice and quiet.

This new one, Mill River, is something else again. Recorded mostly live in three days at New England folk mecca Signature Sound Studios, Mill River is a rollicking bunch of songs, with Smeed stretching emotionally, compositionally, and hitting every mark full stride. With Mill River, Sky Smeed goes toe-to-toe with the great Texas singer-songwriters like Jack Ingram and Robert Earl Keen. Hes that good, and hes that distinctive. Hes got the kind of sweet voice thats recognizable after a first listen, and he writes unforgettable songs.

The hard-boogieing Tonight I Will peels the paint, with Smeed yowling about tearing it up on a Friday; Amarillo Sun has a majestic and poetic darkness thats sniffing around Patti Smiths territory; Nothing to Fear is a slice of small-town boy optimism, winding up with a gypsy-like charge and Smeed singing in long notes Weve nothing to fear over and over again. Love Again is a staggering epic, starting out as a tepid little woe-is-me lost-love number, building steadily over five minutes to a furious, violent conclusion, with the singers character shooting his ex-darlins new man. His take on Jimmy Reeds Shame, Shame, Shame leaves the cosmic country stuff behind and shows that Smeed is perfectly capable of taking on the baddest roadhouse. Line em up.

Smeeds also got one of the most sure-footed bands in the region. The rhythm section of Andy Crawford (drums) and Dave Christopolis (bass) is simply extraordinary in every respect; Jack Waldheim plays guitar and mandolin with taste and restraint, coloring the songs while leaving most of the solo work to the terrific pedal-steel player Pete Adams, who gives the tracks a distinctive county twang.

Something tells me Smeeds not long for this local-musician stuff. Way, way too good for that.

Paul Rapp