After several reasonably eclectic albums over the past six years, I wanted to create a piece that had a consistent & distinct sound, style and theme.

I wanted to blend the feel of 1970’s hard rock and riff driven blues with the resurgence in Americana, roots and alternative country music and then use simple, raw acoustic instrumentation to bring journeyman songs to life with a distinct style. I wanted the songs to be simple, strong, short and raw. And I wanted to tell a story.

The result is the album “Redemption” and the performance vehicle “The Roadhouse Regulars”.

The project sits firmly in the tradition of concept albums with the songs forming the narrative of Redemption: The Man, The Woman, The Preacher and the Way out of Town.

The songs speak of soul selling, wild abandonment, whisky, wine and women. The roll of the dice- the sensation, desperation, and temptation of wild nights- the darkness before the new dawn and the destiny, choices, and reflections that follow.

The sound is based on raw acoustic instruments- duelling acoustic rhythm guitars and drums are at the core with the emphasis on unprocessed instrumentation across the entire album. Harmonica, piano and pedal steel guitar add voice and the absence of bass guitar on most of the tracks lets the drums ring out in a way rarely heard whilst the lower frequencies of the acoustic guitars fill the space normally reserved for the bass. The combination of heavy raw rock drums, with unfettered acoustic guitars defines the Alternate Acoustic Blues Roots sound.

The style of the songs is short, sharp & rhythmically robust- nothing is longer than what is necessary. A key inspiration behind the album was the “Backed In Black: AC/DC Tribute” album where the songs of AC/DC were recreated with just two acoustic guitars. That album showed the potential to write rock songs and perform them in a heavy roots style which maintained their strength, but using the acoustic sounds to release the voices.

I think I’ve managed to achieve what I set out to do with this album. It’s a raw work in both sound and theme. I see Redemption as a performance work- the small seed of a rock musical waiting to happen in the footsteps of Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Rocky Horror and I hope you enjoy the album and the story to be told.