I teamed up a couple of albums produced by the great Jeffrey Foucault on this little blog entry (and these guys are also all originally from Wisconsin if I’m not mistaken). First we have Hayward Williams from Milwaukee and his new full-length The Reef that just came out. I fell in love with Hayward’s song Cotton Bell many moons ago, but haven’t been the most dedicated follower during the years and probably missed a release or two. However, I’ve been spinning this new one on my way to work and back on the car stereo and I’m liking this a lot. And that Spotify thing I used probably doesn’t do any justice to this beauty. Even though I usually prefer if things stay small, I do love all that gospel influence and how those backing vocals lift the songs to new heights. It’s not a very accurate comparison, but somehow those Stephen Stills solo albums came to mind once or twice, because of that. Anyway, The Reef is a great melting pot of folk, rock, soul and gospel and it’s out and available now. I couldn’t find anything official to share from Youtube, Bandcamp or Soundcloud, so here’s the wonderful title track The Reef from Spotify.
A long-time favourite John Statz also recorded a new album TULSA with Jeffrey Foucault. This one isn’t out until March 2015 and John currently has a kickstarter crowdfunding going on so that he can deliver this new baby into this world. Hit that link below, if you want to be a part of it. If you want to get an early taste, the first single from the forthcoming album is already out there. The single is called Home at Last and it goes like this.