Jack Rose with D. Charles Speer

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3...according to our Phil on Thu 10 Jun, 2010.

I sometimes find it a bit weird these posthumous new releases keep arriving. I guess it's the nature of the industry these days. A lot of folks are worth more dead than alive these days. We get emails from distros when popular artists die offering us their back catalogue cheap within hours of their deaths being announced. It's creepy and a bit wrong but then such is the nature of the beast. Mind you I guess Jack would have wanted this out there. Here he teams up with D. Charles Speer and his Helix for a 4 track EP/mini album (at a push) which was recorded live in August 2008. It's a much fuller sound than other Jack Rose records but then with Mr. Speer and his helix in tow you'd kinda expect that. There's a healthy dash of country rock here, in fact it's very country rock so if you want a bit of that then here it is! Covers of songs by Link Wray, Merle Haggard should keep you folks sweet.

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Featuring the original line up of D. Charles Speer & The Helix in peak form and rare lap steel & Telecaster stylings from Rose, ‘Ragged And Right’ displays striking, unforgettable vibrancy & depth.

· This slab of gripping sound was brought about by Jack Rose’s exuberant love of lowdown music. Inspired by the Mordicai Jones / Link Wray ‘Three Track Shack’ sessions, the idea for this collaboration was germinated while Rose was travelling through the heartland on a tour with D. Charles Speer & The Helix in spring 2008. Musicians used to the road are familiar with the phenomenon wherein a certain tape or recording becomes the thematic soundtrack to the tour at hand. In this case, daily doses of ‘Scorpio Woman’ and ‘In The Pines’ as performed by Link Wray became the touchstones for their travels together. Jack got so excited by these songs that he thought to break with his usual acoustic approach and get some electricity in his life again. So he enlisted the Speer band to join in some unhinged and unrepentant fun in the studio. Recorded using an all live, no overdub approach, the resultant session was deemed an all time favourite experience by everyone lucky enough to partake in it. A gleaming bottle of Buffalo Trace helped shepherd them through the dark hours of the night, and in turn that spirit animal adorns the front cover of the record. As producer, Jason Meagher was able to capture the visceral rough and tumble feel that invigorated his Black Dirt Studio in the dog days of August 2008.

· A native of Virginia and resident of Philadelphia since 1998, Jack Rose first rose to prominence in the drone/noise/folk unit Pelt, who can be counted amongst the early influential new music underground bands such as UN, No Neck Blues Band, Charalambides, Tower Recordings and Six Organs Of Admittance. Jack recorded and toured with the band up until 2006 but released his first solo album, ‘Red Horse, White Mule’, featuring post- Takoma, American primitive guitar, in 2002. Along with the influences of John Fahey and Robbie Basho, Jack also incorporated North Indian classical, early American blues, minimalism and bluegrass into his singular style. 2005 saw the release of his fourth album, ‘Kensington Blues’, which incorporated all of the aforementioned influences and his playing / composing fully flowered. Sadly, Jack unexpectedly passed away in December 2009 at the age of 38. He is greatly missed by all those who knew him but his influence and legacy
will persist forever.

· D. Charles Speer & The Helix on this recording is Dave Shuford (No Neck Blues Band, Suntanama), Marc Orleans (Sunburned Hand Of The Man), Hans Chew, Jason Meagher (Black Dirt Studios, No Neck Blues Band), and Rob ‘Moose’ Gregory.

· CD version comes in a 4 panel mini-LP style gatefold package. The LP version comes in a full colour jacket with spot UV gloss printing and is limited to 1,000 copies with download coupon.