A fine album from a little-known Canadian artist now resident in the UK, that may just be the trigger for a higher profile.
Clayton Denwood hails from Toronto, Canada, and now resides in Bristol, South West England, via Woodstock, New York. Early influences, while he was formulating his musical style, were Bob Dylan (he was even touted at times as the new Dylan), Van Morrison, The Band and Grateful Dead and his appreciation of roots music appears to have emanated from these early days. Living in Woodstock for some years reinforced this, especially as he worked with Levon Helm, Garth Hudson and Rick Danko from The Band. He spent years honing his craft in live performances across New York City, Montreal, Toronto and London before settling in the UK several years ago. He now plies his trade across the land with appearances, with his red-hot band, at south of England clubs and various festivals and venues. From time to time, he releases new music and the latest of these is Looking for a Road, an apt title for an album that could accompany you on a longish car journey, and if your journey was to be to a live Denwood gig, you would probably hear the album in live performance almost exactly as it sounds on record.
All the above influences appear from time to time, but to these ears, the album kicks off in rocking style with Black Moon Rising, with a lyric, title, and rhythm that has ‘homage to Creedence’ written all over it, with Duncan Gammon’s keys leading slowly into a Creedence Clearwater Revival riff. It’s a fine start, and the band are really excellent. Denwood plays acoustic and electric guitar; Rob Lowry is on electric guitar and dobro; Martin Cook plays some superb bass lines; and Kevin Reed is a rock-solid drummer.
The second track is the very fine Sometimes (Worry Blues); an example of “how I try to fuse everyday reality and something personal with a wider perspective“, according to Denwood. There’s “children laughing and honeybees buzzing“, “a windy chill up on Constitution Hill” (an area of Bristol), and “the sun going down in old St James” (another Bristol location); then the wider world observation kicks in: ‘it don’t take much for things to fall apart, the street/s not paved with gold”, all to a succession of driving guitar riffs and swirling Hammond organ. Doesn’t Matter Anyway is more of the same: lyrically subtle, forceful beat and fine guitar breaks. Happy New Year Baby has an interesting, funkier shuffle beat with the same lyrical duality as Denwood looks at the negative tempered by a positive. Let me know is more Dylanish vocally than the other tracks, while the New Orleans-centric See You on the Other Side introduces some funky horns before a wild sax solo and a great guitar break. Keep on Keeping On highlights Denwood’s acoustic piano skills on a slower, more reflective track with more fine guitar. Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame has been gestating for some years, and is another with a Dylan vibe and a great bass line.
And the closing title track is the glue which effectively holds the album together lyrically and is its centrepiece. Influenced by The Band, the song encapsulates the lyrical dichotomy that Denwood battles with throughout: “I’m looking for an answer / Somewhere underneath my hat / It’s slipping through my fingers / But there isn’t time for that / I’m tryin’ to stay dignified / But it’s steady as she goes / What’s goin’ to happen now / There ain’t a soul who knows”.
And you can’t help but love the little lyric references to bygone songs; ‘black moon rising‘ (cue CCR’s Bad Moon Rising), “I’d never have to ‘buy a thrill‘“ (Steel Dan reference), “they paved paradise” (Joni Mitchell), “they painted it black” (Rolling Stones), “But you know what the wise man said about the ‘blood upon the track'” (Dylan), “You can’t just stop a ‘landslide'” (Fleetwood Mac), “stop draggin’ round / This ball and this chain” (Tom Petty).
It’s what you might call a lived-in album; it’s not an album that will break the mould, but it doesn’t intend to. Denwood worked up the songs and possible arrangements in a little studio in his back garden, and they were then recorded at Joe’s Garage, a ‘live band in a room’ studio in Bristol, where they perfected the sound on the album, which one suspects would be easily replicated in live performance.
We should hope for more. Please, from an artist that must be one of the most interesting UK americana acts. This is, as stated at the beginning, a fine album.
