album review: Joe Hanna

Joe Hanna
Social Ritual
SELF-RELEASED



On his third solo record, Louisville singer/songwriter and guitarist Joe Hanna has brought together some of his — and our — favorite musicians, including Java Men vets Todd Hildreth (keys) and Ray Rizzo (drums), Picket Line bassist Danny Kiely and journeyman guitarist Mark “Lupe” Hamilton. Make no mistake, though, this is one man’s show, when it’s all said and done and the neon bar sign’s been turned off. Hanna’s Texas-via-Midwest soul/folk material, a well-balanced collection of jovial rockers and tender ballads, should appeal to fans of more famous acts such as John Hiatt, Lyle Lovett or Van Morrison; to be fair, they’ve all been at this longer, but Hanna is no mere pup and deserves his shot on public radio. The recording is crisp, and the band does an admirable job of providing subtle and supple support. Judge for yourself on Monday (Jan. 2), where they’ll perform a full-band set at Clifton’s Pizza at 7 p.m.

c. 2011 LEO Weekly

Affirmed but not forgotten

Nathan Salsburg’s first solo album, Affirmed, is a collection of mostly solo guitar compositions, performed by an archivist, radio presenter and LEO columnist who spends much of his time interacting with music old and unjustly forgotten.

LEO: Why make your first record now, at the advanced age of 30-something?

Nathan Salsburg: The short answer is that I’ve wanted to make this record for a long time, and it took this long to make. The long one is that some years ago, I got really burned out on playing music with the fairly paltry tools I then had at my disposal, and instead devoted myself to becoming a better listener. Over time, that devotion increased my attentiveness, adventurousness and sensitivity as a listener, which started expressing itself in my playing, and in the development of a style that felt like mine. The style started begetting tunes, and the tunes begat the record.

LEO: You work in the music industry, working with digital files all the time. So why do I have a CD in my hands?

NS: I wouldn’t say I work in the music “industry.” My livelihood doesn’t rely on how much music I can sell, but rather the efficacy with which I make music available. And as people, including me, interact with music in all forms of media, I’m glad that Affirmed is available in as many formats as the label saw fit to produce: CD, LP and MP3. I love cassettes, and if they had been a feasible medium to produce, I would have been happy with that, too.

LEO: What should people do while listening to your record?

NS: I would hope people would be satisfied just listening to the record. If they are, it’s a success.

Learn more at noquarter.net.

Photo by Tim Furnish.

c. 2011 LEO Weekly