This was one of those discs that i picked right off the shelf without knowing a single thing about it, those were the days where you either risked things that way, or you just left them on the shelf for good, now you can listen to an album on all sorts of sites before you buy, yes i had to do things the only hard way, but these risks sometimes paid off handsomely, and that was certainly the case here, i bought it because it 'looked good enough to eat' as i thought at the time, the title of the album comes from the lyrics in a Sheryl Crow song [Hard To Make A Stand], which Curfman records here, this appeared in my Blog in 2011 [3rd August 2011].
Shannon Curfman is American, still only 27, she recorded this disc in 1999 at the incredible age of 14!, she sounds like a veteran on the guitar, but even more incredibly sounds like Janis Joplin with her voice, the front cover photograph is just tremendous [by Marina Chavez], it shouted out of the racks 'buy me!', and so i did!, it's a great pose, and the colours are great, and the lettering slightly leaning is nice too, a phenomenal debut from Curfman.
Well on this listen it just has to be track 2 'No Riders' which astounded me yet again, it's a Shannon Curfman original, and it's probably the most Bluesy track on the album, love the guitar intro [0:00-0:09], probably by Curfman, but it's the mandolin played by Kevin Bowe afterwards that really makes the song, makes a powerful vibe, lots of different guitars in the mix, Curfman plays a strong electric guitar solo inbetween the verses [1:15-1:48], in the second verse i just love the way it stars off quiet, but then the strong beat comes in [1:58+], a magical moment, Pat Hayes plays the harp [harmonica] in the background, really going quite wild, it's the constant mandolin vibe that just drives me crazy.
Here's Shannon Curfman playing 'No Riders' on YouTube.
Shannon Curfman is American, still only 27, she recorded this disc in 1999 at the incredible age of 14!, she sounds like a veteran on the guitar, but even more incredibly sounds like Janis Joplin with her voice, the front cover photograph is just tremendous [by Marina Chavez], it shouted out of the racks 'buy me!', and so i did!, it's a great pose, and the colours are great, and the lettering slightly leaning is nice too, a phenomenal debut from Curfman.
Well on this listen it just has to be track 2 'No Riders' which astounded me yet again, it's a Shannon Curfman original, and it's probably the most Bluesy track on the album, love the guitar intro [0:00-0:09], probably by Curfman, but it's the mandolin played by Kevin Bowe afterwards that really makes the song, makes a powerful vibe, lots of different guitars in the mix, Curfman plays a strong electric guitar solo inbetween the verses [1:15-1:48], in the second verse i just love the way it stars off quiet, but then the strong beat comes in [1:58+], a magical moment, Pat Hayes plays the harp [harmonica] in the background, really going quite wild, it's the constant mandolin vibe that just drives me crazy.
Here's Shannon Curfman playing 'No Riders' on YouTube.
