Corin Raymond – Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams

CORIN RAYMOND

Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams

Local Rascal

corinraymond.com

Toronto-based singer-songwriter Corin Raymond arrived on my radar about seven years ago thanks to a brilliant song called “There will Always be a Small Time,” a piece I described at the time as “a near-perfect piece of songwriting.” But, just as there is so much more to Ian Tyson than “Four Strong Winds,” or to Gordon Lightfoot than “The Canadian Railroad Trilogy,” or to Leonard Cohen than “Suzanne,” or to so many other examples, there is more to Corin Raymond than “There will Always be a Small Time.”

That is more than evident on Corin’s new album, “Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams,” a set of nine fine songs he either wrote or co-wrote, and one cover.

Corin is a singer-songwriter whose work engages the listener, the words and melodies combining to draw listeners into the stories he’s telling – and whether the stories are autobiographical or about other people, real or fictional, it’s the story that matters with the lyrics, music, arrangement and delivery all in service to the story.

The album opens strongly with “Hard on Things,” co-written with Rob Vaarmeyer, in which he conversationally describes all those things he’s hard on – from his body to many material things and, by implication (“I’ve worn out two gold wedding rings”), his relationships.

Among the other highlights are “Under the Belly of the Night,” co-written with Jonathan Byrd, which pays tribute to fallen early rock ‘n’ roll and R&B heroes Buddy Holly, Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson and to how their music endures so many decades after their deaths; “Two Miles of Trains,” co-written with Raghu Lokanathan, an upbeat, infectious celebration of hobo culture (the album’s title comes from this song); and “Morning Glories,” a piano-based tribute to some of the characters – flawed but good-hearted folks – that one might encounter walking around a rundown Toronto neighbourhood.

Corin Raymond makes you care about the people in these songs.

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--Mike Regenstreif

Corin Raymond & the Sundowners – Paper Nickels

CORIN RAYMOND & THE SUNDOWNERS
Paper Nickels
Local Rascal Records 
corinraymond.com

I discovered the music of Toronto singer-songwriter Corin Raymond in 2009 through a fine album called There will Always be a Small Time and its title track which I described as “a near-perfect piece of songwriting that captures the essence of why musicians are compelled to play music, of why songwriters are compelled to write songs, of why they’re compelled to play their music and perform their songs for whoever’s wanting or willing to listen, and of why they make records to sell from the stage. It’s a song that celebrates the human connections that are possible when real musicians play real music for real people without any kind of corporate filters.”

For his latest album – Paper Nickels, a 2-CD live set recorded with the Sundowners: Treasa Levasseur on accordion and piano, David Baxter on guitar and mandolin, and Brian Kobayakawa on upright bass – Corin has taken the small time to new heights by not only enlisting support by his fan base to finance the album, something many artists now do, but by getting them to do it by sending in their Canadian Tire money. He collected enough Canadian Tire money – those paper nickels – to finance the two CDs within a hard cover booklet that includes the story of the album (“The Great Canadian Tire Caper of 2012”), stories about the songs and their writers (only four of the 20 songs were written or co-written by Corin) and the lyrics.

The songs Corin has chosen for this project are mostly written by other songwriters working that same small time for the same kinds of rewards and satisfaction that Corin referred to in that 2009 song.

While I enjoyed the album from start to finish, some of my favourite tracks include Max Metrault’s “Anastasia,” a lovely postmodern love song that makes you wonder what some of it is about while actually leaving no doubt about what it all means; Scott Cook’s “The Lord Giveth (and the Landlord Taketh Away”), an infectious ditty about little guys, big guys and the eternal class struggle; “Nine Inch Nails,” by Ridley Bent and Dustin Bentall, a clever little tune about music-crossed lovers; and David Ross Macdonald’s lovely “Time to Leave,” in which the narrator offers sage advice to a friend, or perhaps to himself, about recognizing the end of a relationship and the time to move on.

Another favourite is “Little Bird,” on which Treasa Levasseur takes over the lead vocal for a beautiful version of Jonathan Byrd’s heartfelt love song.

The Sundowners provide fine backup to Corin’s vocals and the live recording has a friendly feels-like-you-there in the small club ambiance that is helped by leaving in the between song patter.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Sing Out! Magazine – Summer 2011

My copy of the Summer 2011 issue of Sing Out! Magazine arrived today (just in the nick of time before summer officially fades into fall this week. The cover story is about the David Wax Museum, a band I met last month when they were part of a workshop I hosted at the Ottawa Folk Festival.

As usual, this issue of Sing Out! has some of my writing including a book review of Woody Guthrie: American Radical by Will Kaufman, and a bunch of CD reviews:

Rory Block – Shake ‘Em On Down: A Tribute to Mississippi Fred McDowell

Jonathan Byrd – Cackalack

Hal Cannon – Hal Cannon

Patti Casey – The Heart of a Waiting Boy

Rachel Harrington – Celilo Falls

Diana Jones – High Atmosphere

Buddy Miller – Buddy Miller’s The Majestic Silver Strings

Job Potter – Job Potter

Danny Schmidt – Man of Many Moons

The Wailin’ Jennys – Bright Morning Stars

Tim Williams – When I was a Cowboy.

--Mike Regenstreif