Jayke Orvis "It's All Been Said"

(Broken Neck Records 2017)

A Recipe For Tea

Yankee Taste

Feelings Like This

Beatin' My Head

Empty Bottles On A Broken Shelf

Thunderbolts And Lightning

Gone Forever More

Shady Grove Gypsy Moon

Streets

Dreadful Sinner

(Untitled Bonus Track)

If you don't know who Jayke Orvis is then you're a fuckin' eejit. This is (was) his début album that first saw the light of day back in 2010 on Farmageddon. It's now out on everyone's favourite format...vinyl..on Broken Neck Records. The Jaykester will be known to fans of The Goddamn Gallows...because he's one of em! See? Now the light bulb has lit up. Anyway, his solo stuff isn't a million miles away from the Gallows stuff but at the same time it's something completely different. They're both coming from the same melting pot of influences but Orvis's solo output keeps two feet firmly in the roots-infused clay of old time country and bluegrass without straying into folk punk territory. It has a certain musical purity to it. That purity extends to the song writing too. Apart from a few bluegrass stompers, the overall feeling of the album is one of desolation. Good old fashioned heartbreak is order of the day here. Our Jayke comes across as a very forlorn character if his lyrics are anything to go by. This is the kind of thing that'll have you crying into your pint. I quite like stuff that has that effect. The man has the ability to connect with his listeners. We've all suffered from that quivering bottom lip at some stage and he brings it all flooding back! But it's not all doom and gloom as I said. There's some fine upbeat bluegrass pickin' to be heard too. Actually, the musicianship on this album is nothing short of stellar. Oh, and while I'm at it. I hate sneakily titled songs like (Untitled Bonus Track) as I have all my music in a sexy database. So if you're as OCD as me...that song is actually an excellent rendition of Faron Young's 1958 ditty Alone With You. The album is out now CD and on red (limited to 105 copies) and black vinyl from Broken Neck/Crazy Love Records.
The O'Prez

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