Americana Music Reviews

 

Porter Hall Tennessee
Welcome to Porter Hall Tennessee
Slewfoot - SF807

by Al Kunz

Sometimes in a small town you have nothing to do but drink away your reality. You have aspirations of a better place, but wind up trapped in the mundane. To speak out against these standards would seem ludicrous. But sometimes you just have to stand up and tell it like it is.
Liner notes of Welcome to Porter Hall Tennessee

I'd visited Porter Hall, Tennessee, hundreds of times before first setting foot in Tennessee. That's because you won't find Porter Hall on any map. No such town exists except in the minds of the band of the same name. But spend some time in Dalhart, Texas, or stay awhile in Kemmerer, Wyoming, and you'll understand that Porter Hall is a stand-in for all insular small towns with limited opportunity. Your big city neighborhood might feel the same way. If you'll join me for a tour, we'll see if the mythical Porter Hall seems familiar to you too.

As Gary Roadarmel sings the opening stanza of "Screwed Blue," you'll get a pretty good clue as to what we'll find during our visit ("I've been screwed blue / Through and through / Got drunk in a fight / And woke up tattooed / But I never got over you"). We'll see the heartache of broken and bad relationships. We'll observe the residents of Porter Hall drinking, usually to excess. But we'll also see angels and get a little bible learnin' for some balance.

During our visit hostess Molly Conley will assist host Gary Roadarmel. Her voice led Slewfoot records to describe the sound of Porter Hall, Tennessee, as like "Kelly Willis fronting the Domino Kings." Conley's angelic voice has the same effect on me as Willis', convincing me that "Heaven's Just a Sin Away." Molly introduces herself with "Halfway There (I'm Gone)," where she touches on our common themes of bad relationships and drinking.

I made plans to leave that town
Probably just like every drunk around
There was no point in waiting
To complain until I can't
I had to go and find my other choice

I'm gone like the comfort in your voice
I'm gone from the thought I had no choice
I'm gone from being caught in your dead stare
I'm gone and I'm halfway there

Besides Roadarmel and Conley trading off lead vocals and playing guitar, several others will accompany us on our musical tour. Jason Sligh plays the mandolin and sings backing vocals. Ruth Griffin on bass and drummer Kenny Griffin round out the crew of Porter Hall regulars. Other special guests play banjo (Jason Wisener), pedal steel and baritone guitars (Mike Fried), with Billy "Ozzy" Osment bowing the fiddle.

Musically Porter Hall is firmly rooted in traditional sounds, but with enough of a modern edge to avoid feeling too retro. The comparison to Slewfoot labelmates The Domino Kings is a good starting point. Their sound ranges from the rockabillyish "Screwed Blue" to old-timey and bluegrass influenced mountain music with cry-in-your-beer honky tonkers predominating. An example of the later is "Golden Chain of Hate." The opening lines, "Whiskey, whores, and overtime have taken her place now that she's gone / I took to sleeping with a bottle now / That way I never wake up alone," set the stage for a story you know can't have a good ending. You might guess the narrator self-destructs. You're probably right, but he's not going alone.

Hail Mary full of grace
I hope that she'll understand
That this cold steel's loaded with forgiveness
With six lead slaves in my right hand
I know there's a place
Where the hateful and all the sinners go
But the fires of hell ain't nothin' now
Next to the fires for her burning in my soul

Then again, maybe the man in the last song didn't follow through. Maybe the steadying female in "Angel Without Wings" provided a calming influence just in time.

Turn the other cheek
Close another eye
I know you're lonely
And I sympathize
But you are free
So let yourself be
Just be an angel
An angel without wings

"Drunkard and the Angel" begins, "Well it's one in the morning / they're playing Jones on the jukebox / I've been sitting on this stool since nine." Finally at last call the drunkard pours his heart out to the bartender. While conceding "the bottle chased away all my friends," he's confused when his girlfriend leaves him for another man, not understanding why she wouldn't marry him instead.

Problems in love aren't just for guys. In "Middle Tennessee" Conley sings about being "stuck in the middle / of love and hate." At one time she felt her boyfriend was committed to the relationship. Now he's hot and cold. She says, "I can't go on feeling alone" and implies that she's ready to move on. However, the conclusion leaves me wondering if either party is willing to make a choice between commitment and ending the relationship.

I think there's something in the air
I think it's coming from your glare
Your eyes they've filled
With whiskey black hate
I would leave but you are my date

I know you're not perfect
And neither am I
But why do you want to go
So far over the other side

If you tire quickly of drinking and love-gone-bad songs then this disc probably isn't for you. Actually most country music isn't your thing and you should be deported from Rockzillaworld. But I did promise you a respite from these themes. "Old Kentucky Home" is a start. While the lyric "the stars shine bright o'er this old Kentucky home" recalls the similarly titled Stephen Foster tune, this one is a Gary Roadarmel original. In this case about an attempt at reclaiming love rather than love going bad. "Crosses to Hang" not only helps balance the predominant themes, it's about learning that life must have balance.

Well I guess I was wrong
For wanting something in return
I gave my everything
Just to watch it burn
And I think I saw it coming
But at least I know now
Don't give up your everything
If you don't know how

While there is an instrumental bonus track, officially the disc ends with the traditional "I've Got a Hedge." This fast-paced, old-timey mountain tune packs a disc's worth of biblical references into less than three minutes. ("When old Satan tries to tempt me / Well the Lord won't let him in / 'Cause I've got a hedge built all the way 'round me / And I know I've been born again").

With New York based Florence Dore's Perfect City release and this disc from Murfreesboro, Tennessee's Porter Hall, Slewfoot Records continues building its artist roster, venturing farther afield from their Missouri stronghold. Welcome to Porter Hall Tennessee should enhance their reputation for finding and signing quality roots artists.

*Visit Porter Hall, Tennessee on the web at www.porterhall.com to order your copy of Welcome to Porter Hall Tennessee. If music samples aren't enough you'll find pictures and even video too. Additional options include purchasing from www.slewfootrecords.com and the normal Internet outlets.


Contact Al Kunz at kunz-at-rockzilla.net

 
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