#104 February/March 2002
Rick Shea and
Brantley Kearns
Trouble and Me
Tres Pescadores TPCD-3 2002
Shea and Kearns have been playing together since the late 80s. Kearns is well known for his fiddling on Dwight Yoakums first three albums and has played on Shea's two acclaimed albums. Both Kearns and Shea (guitar, mandolin) are part of Dave Alvin's band, the Guilty Men, but this is the duo's first actual album together. Trouble and Me, which was produced by Shea and Alvin, is a collection of traditionals and old favorites mixed in with a few originals. The album begins and closes with wonderfull instrumentals, the closer being "Byrons Iron/Bakers Acre," a tribute to Kearns fiddling influences.
Shea and Kearns are both enthralling singers and equally exciting instrumentalists. There is something quintessentially Californian in Shea's bittersweet voice. He is very effective on material from that most talented of folk couple, notably Mary McCaslin ("San Bernardino Waltz") and her late husband Jim Ringer ("Rachel"). When Kearns sings the Carter Family's "Loafers Glory" (made popular by Flatt & Scruggs) and the traditional "Sail Away Ladies" his Appalachian roots come to the fore, not only in his choice of material but also in his fiddling and the subtle drawl in his voice. The originals hold their own solidly next to those songs. Dave Alvin plays the National steel guitar on a Cajun-inflected version of Blind Lemon Jefferson's "Black Snake Moan" that is also an unbridled acoustic rocker. Most of Trouble and Me is stunningly good.
- Paul E. Comeau
(Comeauville NS, Canada)
#68/157
SEPTEMBER 2002
Vital cogs in Dave Alvin and The Guilty Men, one of the most potent live shows in the business, Rick Shea is Alvins jack of all trades, playing steel guitar, electric guitar and mandolin, Kearns sticks to the fiddle. In between his duties for Alvin Shea has also carved out a solo career that has yielded three fine releases to date, including this collaboration with Kearns, who accompanied Shea on previous solo affairs, but now his name makes it to the marquee. Some may remember Kearns as the fiddle man in the first incarnation of Dwight Yoakuns band, wearing his ever present overalls. For all intents and purposes this is closer to a bluegrass album than anything else. Mixing favorites from the catalogues of Mary McCaslin (San Benardino Waltz), Jim Ringer (Rachel), Harlan Howard (Trouble and Me) and Blind Lemon Jefferson (Black Snake Moan) with some solid originals, the stripped-down, all acoustic setting provides the fellows with plenty of elbow room to show their respective musician chops, which they do in spades, while also putting their own creative stamp on things in the process. It is that laid-back, lived in quality that makes Trouble and Me the pleasurable listen that it is. Other than a few instrumentals the two take turns on lead vocals throughout the entirety of the record with Shea's creamy baritone providing a nice counter to Kearns Carolina twang. Consider this one of them small gems of an album.
Dan Ferguson
July/August 2002
Rick Shea and Brantley Kearns have stepped away from their duties as members of Dave Alvins Guilty Men long enough to record this intimate and gorgeous half originals/half covers all authentic country blues/bluegrass album.
They show they are no mere "O Brother " come latelies as the songs that they've written are woven to perfection in among the traditional compositions by everyone from E.J. and Maybelle Carter to Harlan Howard. Its no surprise that Shea and Kearns have a unique chemistry between them; Shea's solo albums have been wonderfull representations of his California country and folk heritage and Kearns North Carolina bluegrass roots are the perfect complement to them.
The blending of the two talents barely shows the stitches between the Carters "Loafers Glory" and Shea's own "Parish Road" or the traditional "Sail Away Ladies" and Kearns old timey "Aint It Almost Like The Old Times" Production by Shea and bossman Alvin is sypathetically stripped down and unadorned, allowing the purity of the music to shine through.
Brian Baker
Friday July 12. 2002
Rick Shea is the second guitarist and harmony singer and Brantley Kearns the fiddler in Dave Alvins band The Guilty Men, and Alvin returns the favor here, co producing with Shea and adding steel guitar to a string band version of Blind Lemon Jeffersons "Black Snake Moan" to their new duet album.
"Carolina Ca.," "Aint It Almost Like The Old Times" and "Let My Horses Run Free" offer smart contemporary takes on country when its heart was still in the hills of Tennesee and the Brazos of Texas. Whether reviving classics like the Carter Family's "Loafers Glory" and Harlan Howards "Trouble and Me," spotlighting forgotten gems likeMary McCaslin's "San Bernardino Waltz" or evoking ancient string band jubilance on "Byrons Iron/Bakers Acre," Shea and Brantley celebrate their musical roots with verdant branches.
- Geoffrey Himes
COUNTRY PICK OF THE WEEK
RICK SHEA & BRANTLEY KEARNS
As career choces go, few pack more heartache and frustration than country music. The very fact that these two paragons of honky-tonk expression have gamely soldiered on through the years makes it clear they take their calling pretty damn seriously. Shea's been at it since his 1970s start at Inland Empire truckstops, and Kearns was performing every weekend in his home town of High Point, North Carolina, by age 11. With the mortality rate for country nightclubs at an all time high and pay scale at a shocking low, the title of their new CD come as no surprise: Trouble and Me. But you won't catch either one griping, and the disc itself is an often dazzling collection of trad. old-timey and brand-new original songs, a beguiling mix of instrumentals offset by Shea's deceptively understated interpretive vocals and Kearns' own singular version of the classic Southern style. When he gets to singing "There ain't no more cane on the Brazos," its a transportive moment, one that emphasizes an ability to hearken back to the 19th century while delivering an intense of-the-moment reality. A rare gift, yet one common to each, and it rates Trouble and Me as one of the most important doses of indie California country in ages.
Jonny Whiteside/LAWeekly
Aug 2, 2002
RICK SHEA AND BRANTLEY KEARNS "Trouble and Me"
(Tres Pescadores) ****
Both stalwart members of Dave Alvin's Guilty Men, Calfornia countrypolitan Shea and Carolina fiddler Kearns operate on vastly different musical wavelengths, but somehow complement each others sounds on this collection of slickly told song stories and backwoods stomps. Highlights include Shea's sap-drained nostalgic pause on J.Ringers "Rachel" and Kearns' randy geezer reading of the traditional "Sail Away Ladies."
Bob Strauss