It’s decided - Scotland has an endless stream of talented and innovative artists, who invigorate the past and the present with their creativity and intelligence. Roddy Hart, unlike his countrymen, has a penchant for more American influenced strumming and singing, forming an album that could sit aside Willie Nelson’s early career and Ryan Adams’ current solo work. Kris Kristofferson recognized his budding talent, contributing to his debut with backing vocals on “My Greatest Success” and “Home,” and inviting Roddy to support him on his UK tour. For a young artist there could be no better spotlight. His Americana and country-inspired songs, like the superb album opener, “The Life and Times of Joseph Rowe,” compose most of the album, as Dylan-inspired harmonica and twang imbue the lush rhythms, but British folk, like that of Drake or Fay, is evident throughout, especially on the hushed, “Temperance of Peace.” The greatest strength of the album, though, is not the complex instrumentation and expert performance throughout, but Hart’s strong vocals that are always at the forefront of the songs, never disappearing into the background of pedal steel guitar, tambourine, and country strings. It’s an impressive record that shows that Americana too can reach beyond its own borders.
--Wes Barker
Buy Album from CD Universe
