Discography

ROADHOUSE

Gods & Highways & Old Guitars

KrossBorder

What initially strikes me about the CD is the stunning photography on the cover. Just like an old Camel CD from the nineties, Dust and Dreams, it portrays John Steinback -era America when everything was bust and broken. For any first time listeners the symbolism of the guitar case in the boot of the clapped out car on the cover soon becomes evident. Roadhouse are pure guitar-driven blues rock with a tinge of Southern boogie. Opener Hell on Wheels shows that founder member, chief bottle washer, singer, co-guitarist and main song-writer, Gary Boner is in sparkling form, along with fellow guitarist Danny Gwilym, boosted by the ever dependable rhythm section of Bill Hobley (bass) and Roger Hunt (drums). Then there is the band within the band that is the wonderful Mandie G, Sarah Harvey-Smart, and Suzie D on vocals. Skin Walker clocking in at seven and a half minutes is a native American tale accentuated by Gary’s narrative, accompanied by an electro-acoustic guitar pattern.  The title track has Mandie G handling pitch perfect vocals before the guitars slip into jam-band mode. Katrina takes the listener to the devastation of New Orleans post hurricane. Suzie D does a remake of The Big Easy again with superb guitar work. With a hint of boogie, co-writer Sarah Harvey-Smart does a brilliant job on Slow Down. Country rocker, Spirits Across the Water has beautiful backing vocals. Blues Motel has a riff which could have been plucked from early ZZ Top, showcasing the great vibe Mandie G has with Danny’s guitar work. Like Spirit before it, closer Sinner has an eighties feel to it. This album certainly gets my vote for one of the outstanding British releases of this year. Mr Boner works tremendously hard on his own musical vision and, in my humble opinion, he and his wonderful band have pulled it off.

Clive Rawlings

Roadhouse’s music has always been different, country-rock,
heading into roots and blues, with a dark, cinematic world view,
the still back routes of America laced with the dirtier back streets
of London. This is the band’s 11th album and is the pinnacle
of their achievements, rumbling, roaring and screaming in pain
while never losing track of the country undertones.

Under the leadership of guitarist/singer/songwriter Gary Boner,
the band have been constantly pushing back the boundaries, and
from the opening ringing tones of Too Tired To Pray you’re
in the Roadhouse world. There are few such bands who can get away
with expansive pieces, but such is Roadhouse’s mastery that
the eight minutes of the majestic title track seem normal.

The album’s success is in part due to Boner’s growing
maturity as a writer, part of it is the band’s latest in
a long line of lead guitarists, Danny Gwilym, whose playing takes
things to a new level. There’s an inventive, rich, bluesy
rock ‘n’ roll warmth, but there’s also the air
of an early Clapton; imagine Cream playing in a roadhouse. Boner’s
chugging, jangling rhythm is incessant and the solid rhythm section
of Roger Hunt (drums) and Bill Hobley (bass) is still there from
the very beginning is still there. The band’s unusual vocal
approach is still there, too, a trio of female singers (Mandie
G, Kellie Marie Hobbs, Suzi D) who at one moment appear to be
adding backing to Boner, then switch to a lead harmony, then solo
lead. The constant changes create an ensemble feel, rather like
the Band where the boundaries of lead vocals were forever blurred.

Of the tracks, Boner’s Working Class Gospel Drinking Blues
is a favourite (with Gwilym’s gut-wrenching lead guitar),
but there are lighter numbers such as So Over You, co-written
with Gwilym and Hobbs. A classic

There are some people out there who, myself included, appreciate
songs that reach further inside, due to the lyrics or sincerity
of the singer’s voice. If you understand, then you’ll
need to discover this work of distinctive mournful majesty.

Colin Palmer

Triumph from Britain’s leading country rockers

The London roots rockers who never stand still release another
album with yet another line-up. They get through guitarists
faster than Rod Stewart gets through wives. Yet that does mean
they?re always on edge, always pushing forward. Some might have
felt that losing British guitar prodigy Jules Fothergill could
be a setback but mainmain Gary Boner has found an excellent
(and very different) replacement in Canadian Drew Barron.

The songs are still a raging country-roots blend of imagery
– rivers, trains, desolate countryside – but the
textures are different again, Barron bringing a softer, mystical
feel up against Boner?s rock jangle.

Roadhouse’s trademark twin girl singers – more than backing
vocals, sometimes soloists but always there like a wind whistling
around the Boner/Barron twin guitar attack – are still
there. Yet different – one of the band?s earliest members,
Mandie G, has returned, joined by newcome Fiona McElroy, the
latter taking centre stage on the choogling, spine-tingling
rocker Still Haven?t Found.

The set kicks off with a classic Roadhouse rampage, White Water,
great tune, great guitars and male-female vocals winding around
each other.

The rhythm section of Roger Hunt and Bill Hobley (band originals
along with Boner) are darker and dirtier than ever as they tackle
moody originals like Pulp Fiction and the West Coast-sounding
The Big Easy. What?s also impressive is how the band manage
to take what some might see as a hoary covers and turn them
around. All Along The Watchtower becomes a bleak barroom workout,
complete with smokey sax by Fred Schmid. And Knocking On Heaven?s
Door

The Spanish guitar driven Mexican Nights is a new approach for
the band before they return to familiar ground for the rampant
finale Last Train Home. A killer record from a band who deserve
to be much bigger. ND