Blind Mule - Blind Mule

1. Bend It

2. Day I Was Born

3. Pickin' Up Your Feet

4. Who Is Gunna Pay

5. Firehouse

6. Not Your Home

Bind Mule have released their debut album, which is self-titled. This album shows the band in a very all over the place way. They have a bluegrass feel to some of their songs, while others have a live pub band type of feel. These guys aren't really close to any bands because of their all over the place, and not sticking to one genre. Closest band we can think of is early Barenaked Ladies, so if you were into them in the early 90's, this band could be for you.

When looking at the recording quality of this album, the album has been recorded to a pretty decent quality, but the album feels like it could be louder and a bit crisper. The album has a bit of a rougher, not super produced feel to it, and that could hurt this in the end. Not bad thought. With the instrumentation here, the album feel like the band has just played pretty averagely on their debut. We don't feel this really matters much though, as the style of music they play, doesn't really call for crazy instrumentation, just good old ability to play. All in all, decent.

Now onto the vocals and lyrics, with the vocals, the singer sings pretty well, and you can hear just what he is saying, so you can get the message out of the songs. He can certainly sing and that makes the songs easier to get into. With the lyrics, the band goes for songs about everyday life and just things you deal with from day to do. These are very relatable topics and things for people to latch onto. We think they are just complex enough that most people can get the message of the songs. Not bad 

If you are looking for a single to this album, there isn't one, so listen to the whole album or you won't really get an idea of the album since every song seems to be different here.

Blind Mule have made a debut album that gives the band something to play, and a base for people to understand what the band is all about. We feel the band needs to narrow down their sound and pick a style to go with so that the band has something defined that the fans can grab onto, otherwise they will only like certain sings. Not bad for a first effort. Give the album a listen to decide for yourself what you think of it.

Genre: Bluegrass/Country/Folk

Release Date: 2013

Location: Hamilton, Ontario

Website: http://www.blindmule.ca/

Label: None

Big Tobacco & The Pickers - Big Tobacco & The Pickers

1. The Drunker You Get

2. Whispering Palms

3. Time Ain't On Your Side

4. Return To Sender (Say It Ain't So)

5. Lonesome, On'ry And Mean

6. My Own Hell

7. No Good Gal

8. I'm Fine

9. Livin' By Rolling The Dice

10. Hey Hillbilly

11. Beans For Breakfast

12. The Legend Of Ma Barker
13. Sing Me Back Home

Big Tobacco & The Pickers have released their debut album which they have decided to self title. This album shows the band in a very country, bluegrass sort of Hillbilly style. These guys have that typical old style country music that you go square dance to, artists like Brooks & Dunn or Dolly Parton, so if you like that type of music, or even Stompin' Tom, you could like this music. They have done a pretty good job on this album. When looking at the recording quality of this album, the album has been done to an alright standard. It could have been done a bit better, but also for sure could of been worse, so it's on the average side. The instrumentation on this album is pretty standard, nothing to blow you away, but also nothing to make your ears bleed from terrible playing. Now onto the vocals and lyrics, the vocals on this album are your standard country vocals. Their singer can certainly sing and you can for sure hear them clearly, they just seem to have that twangy old style country vocal to them. Not bad. With the lyrics, the band goes for songs about being a hillybilly, eating beans and pretty much the cowboy lifestyle of things. These lyrics go back to a time in history that has been lost, but not forgotten. We think people will like these lyrics if they like cowboys. If you are looking for a single to this album, there isn't one, so just pick a song and give it a listen to get the feel of this album. Big Tobacco & his pickers have made a debut album that really throws the traditional country around here. They have a good starting ground here which will hopefully serve them well when it comes to making their next album. We hope they get out more if they want to make this more that just a for fun band so they can expose more people to their music. Listen to this album to decide for yourself what you think of this album.

Genre: Country/Honky Tonk/Bluegrass

Release Date: October 10th, 2010

Location: Toronto, Ontario
Website: http://www.bigtobaccoandthepickers.com/

Label: None

Doc Yates And The Kings Evil - Sweat It Out

1. Blue Skies, Green Eyes

2. These Shoes

3. Daisy

4. Four Fingers Of Whiskey

5. ShakeEm Down

6. Hard Road Home

7. First Dance

8. All That I Needed

9. Closer (Until We Meet Again)

Doc Yates And The Lings Evil have released their debut album entitled "Sweat it Out." This album definitely makes you sweat it out while listening to it. The album was certainly interesting to listen to and something we hadn't heard before, but not all different means good. They have a similar sound to that of Alan Jackson or even a Dean Brody, so if you like those artists, you could like this album. they have done an okay job on this album. the instrumentation on the album is nothing to get excited over and has a pretty average sound. Now onto the vocals and lyrics, the vocal style of the singer is something else. However he is trying to sing those songs is just the last thing to expect from putting on an album. A change is certainly needed. With the lyrics, they have a very typical country message to them, old country that is outdated and not what everyone is listening to nowadays. If you are looking for a single to this album, there isn't one, so just pick a song and give it a listen to know the album. Doc Yates And The Kings Evil have made an album that sounds like it came from your old time rowdy country bar all the older country people visit every Friday. A little change in style and sound would benefit this band. Good try though. Listen to this album to decide for yourself what you think of it.

Genre: Country/Bluegrass/Alternative

Release Date: January 2017

Location: Ottawa, Ontario
Website: http://www.docyates.com/

Label: None

Dinner Belles - The River And The Willow

1. Back Home (In The Valley)

2. I Might Do Everything Wrong

3. Wandering Eye

4. River And The Willow

5. Be Good To The Earth

6. Long Day's Journey

7. Speed River

8. Ocean

9. (I Ain't No) Sonny Boy

10. Same Mistake

11. No Good

Dinner Belles have released their second album titled "The River And The Willow." This album shows the band in the light of being  much more well rounded in their sound. The band has done a very good job of writing relatable, toe tapping songs with variety for fans of folk music to listen to. There is nothing really with this album to pick at unless you don't like this kind of music. Good things about this album would be the simpleness of the songs as well as the quality of the recording, and then the bands ability is fairly decent here. A song we suggest to listen to is "River And The Willow" this song is slower, but has a Bruce Springsteen sort of style to it with solid lyrics. Give this album a chance if you like this kind of music, they have a couple songs that will surprise you even if you don't like that kind of music. Great job on the album and look out for them in the future.

Genre: Folk/Country/Bluegrass
Release Date: October 28th, 2014

Location: Hamilton, Ontario

Label: Sonic Unyon Records

Dinner Belles - West Simcoe County

1. 'Til The Dawn

2. Runnin' To  Ravenna

3. Homewrecking Girl

4. Country Blues

5. Misery Waits

6. West Simcoe County

7. Testify

8. Some Days

9. Mississippi River Gambler

10. Compromise

11. Every Time I Put That Bottle Down

Dinner Bells debut album is one that brings the folky bluegrass to the forefront and makes people know that it is still out there going strong. This band is actually an alright band to listen to despite making music in a genre that doesn't have a big following and seems to be the older crowd that is into it. When you look at how the band and the recording sounds here, the album is an alright sound but it could be better, but since this music isn't going crazy with the playing ability of the musicians and like to have a light, airiness to it, the band sound pretty decent. The lyrics are what you would expect from a band in this genre as well. if you are looking for a single to listen to on this album, there isn't one, so just pick a song and you will get the feeling of the album. Dinner Belles are not reinventing the folk and bluegrass genre(s) but they are making their way in it which is a good thing for this band. Give this album a listen and decide for yourself if this album is good. Make sure you follow what the band is doing as well, they do have something here.

Genre: Folk/Country/Bluegrass
Release Date: August 11th, 2011

Location: Hamilton, Ontario

Label: None