Mike Cummings is more known to me through his band, the amazing Backwoods Payback. That he had a parallel career as a singer/songwriter, as mRc & The Souvenirs, was not a secret to me, but for some reason I have never checked it out. Well that is until he played in Nashville recently as part of his acoustic Fall Tour. After an excellent performance, I obtained a copy of his latest release, 'Fall Tour EP 2015', and I haven't stopped playing it since.
This wax is a bag of old and new creations that Mike presents in the best possible way. 'Ranch Song' is first out and sweet, languishing tones emanate from the speakers in this song about love and devotion. The protagonist's sincerity is even more enhanced by the beautiful lap steel which soars above the music. 'Show Pony' follows and is mainly acoustic and a heartbreaker, if there ever was one. Our protagonist is stuck in a vicious circle where he keeps taking back the love of his life who constantly brings him down. Just an acoustic guitar and a harmonica accompanies Mike on the amazing 'San Francisco'. Apart from being a beautiful song in itself, it's about one of my favorite cities in the US so it really hit home in two ways with me. I might be wrong but to me this is a story of what has been, what is now and just waiting for what the future holds. Turning it up slightly 'Long Haul' is not only more electric in sound, it is also darker about rich kids who don't seem to know what they have. Instead they think they are white trash and do designer drugs in their mansions on the hill. Last out is 'Easily Confused' and this song could easily have been culled from the Backwoods Payback catalog. Disharmonic and dark with claustrophobic riffs this is my favorite track on the EP. I lose myself in no time when this one comes on and I'm taken somewhere else, somewhere different and better.
It's always a pleasure when an artist you really like steps out of the box and performs something totally different, and does amazingly well at that. In a way, I am not surprised since I know how talented Mike is but at the same time I am completely flabbergasted with this release. This half low-fi, half acoustic creation has blown me away and has elevated Mr. Cummings even more in my opinion. So, don't stand there kicking you feet in the dust while twirling your hair, waveriders. Get in touch with the man and get your copies as soon as you can. The last song is previously unreleased while the first two can be found on Mike's debut 'Get Low'. The other two are found on his second album 'More Barn'. So there's plenty of great music waiting for you, alright!
- Swedebeast
