Twelve years ago Altcounty.NL was the leading website about Americana and other rootsmusic in The Netherlands. It was a hell of a job, listening and reviewing the cd’s from mostly American bands and singer-songwriters at night, after my daily job as a journalist for a regional newspaper.
Sometimes it ended up arranging some gigs for those bands and singers. Like I did for Kevin Montgomery. The first time he had Doug Pettibone (Lucinda Williams, Marianne Faithfull) with him on electric guitar, the second time there was a full band on stage, including Al Perkins. Next highlight was the concert he did with The Roadtrippers, including Paul Deakin and Robert Reynolds from The Mavericks.
I don’t know anymore how Kevin and I got in contact – but we still are, sometimes. Last year I visited him in a studio in Nashville where he was working on his new album. A crystal sound came out of the speakers. It was I will Love You Anyway (see video), a great guitar driven song, like The Byrds meeting Tom Petty. It’s the first rocksong from the new album, followed by five others. Demons Down s the most brutal of them. Next is Goosebumbs, which has that typical Bo Diddley-rhythm. Breakin’ Me Down is another great radiosong; it could be picked up from the prairie somewhere in Texas. Come On is a bit of a soul/funky partysong with a non-typical bridge. Fireworks starts slowly but has a heavy refrain, and leads the listener to The Greatest Love That Never Was, a ballad, with the piano leading, just like the start of Some Comfort.
Kevin Montgomery makes the circle round. The cd starts with the the title track, a strong ballad, and so is Motion Picture. In between there is the lush atmosphere of Santa Monica Tan, which reminds me of the period the Nashville based Montgomery worked in California. He sings about love, the ups and downs and about life: so many things can ruin your day, don’t let it happen. Let love rule.
Some Comfort is in my cd-player in my car for more then two weeks now. It’s a great album, one of the best of 2012. Someone should wake up David Letterman, so the son of Bob Montgomery – he worked with Buddy Holly – finally gets the attention he deserves.
