The first song I heard from Bywater Call was “Holler” and I review this track more fully below, but a couple of things struck me from the opening few seconds: Meghan Parnell’s vocals and Dave Barnes on guitar. First, Meghan: what a powerful set of pipes she has! Strong and ionate. Just stunning from the opening few lines. As for Dave on guitar, he sounded great from the off and the way he switches in and out of using the slide is outstanding – I’m guessing he was born with a bottleneck on his ring finger. Although these two grabbed my attention from the off, when the rest of the band kicks in, it is clear that the band as a whole are a force to be reckoned with. There are seven band altogether: as well as Meghan and Dave, there is Bruce McCarthy on drums; Mike Meusel on bass; John Kervin on keyboards; Stephen Dyte on trumpet and Julian Nalli on tenor sax. The brass section especially caught my ear and really fill out the southern blues, roots rock sound. They sound so authentically “southern” that I was surprised to discover they are actually from Toronto, Canada.
Having been impressed by “Holler”, I decided to check out their new album, Shepherd. This is their third studio album and consists of ten tracks. Four tracks have already been released as singles (“Holler”, “Roll”, “As If” and “Everybody Knows”) and official videos can be found on the Bywater Call YouTube channel. The opening track is “Everybody Knows” (see video at the end of this review). The title and chorus, “Everybody knows the bed they sleep in…”, clearly references the old proverb: “you’ve made your bed, now lie in it”. It subverts the proverb by pointing out that we do not really need to be told we have to live with our mistakes, we know it already: we know the bed we sleep in. The song has three verses with three stories that lead to this chorus. The first appears to involve a woman who knows her partner is a bit of a scoundrel. She “…tells herself he’s a man worth keeping… but everybody knows the bed they lie in.”. She knows he’s not really worth keeping. It is this self realisation that brings hope to what could otherwise be a depressingly fatalistic song. There is a real rock swagger to the track but the gospel/soul chorus, in my opinion, more than hints at the possibility of redemption.
I promised above that I would say a bit more about “Holler”. It is the fourth track on the album and, by this time, you should know (more or less) what to expect and “Holler” does not disappoint. This track is firmly in Delta blues territory and starts off relatively subdued with Dave on a resonator guitar and Meghan on vocals, then, a foot stomping percussion is added and soon the whole band is going full pelt. I am hugely impressed with the brass section throughout this album but their contribution to this track is particularly magnificent.
Finally, I want to say a brief word about the sixth track, “Roll”. Here the band are in full on soul mode… but with more than a hint of gospel. I like that Meghan’s vocals, particularly in the verses, are more subdued than she is in other tracks; it is great to hear her vocals when she is not in full-on belt it out mode! Once again, the horn section is outstanding but the rest of the band delivers too with a great Hammond-style organ sound and an outstanding guitar solo. Love the a capella end to the track too.
Southern blues, roots rock, soul, gospel, ballads, foot-stomping rockers… whatever the musical genre, this band delivers.
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October 2024 UK Tour:
Tickets On General Sale: Wednesday 6th March from The Gig Cartel, Ticket Source, Bywater Call
- Manchester, Academy 3 – Wednesday 16 October 2024
- Cardiff, Globe – Thursday 17 October 2024
- Leek, Foxlowe Arts – Friday 18 October 2024
- Leeds, Brudenell – Saturday 19 October 2024
- Glasgow, Oran Mor – Sunday 20 October 2024
- Newcastle, The Cluny – Tuesday 22 October 2024
- Sheffield, Corporation – Wednesday 23 October 2024
- Norwich, Waterfront Studios – Thursday 24 October 2024
- London, Dingwalls – Friday 25 October 2024
- Newbury, Arlington Arts – Saturday 26 October 2024
- Sittingbourne, Bourne Music Club – Sunday 27 October 2024
Tracklist:
- Everybody Knows
- Colours
- Sweet Maria
- Holler
- For All We Know
- Roll
- Turn It Around
- Now And Never
- As If
- Sign Of Peace
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Shepherd is released 9th August. They tour the UK from October 16 – 27th. Album and tickets available from www.bywatercall.com
Check out all the bands we review in 2024 on our Spotify and YouTube playlists!
Header image by Marty Moffatt.
Bywater Call: official | facebook | twitter | instagram | spotify | youtube
[…] Fronted by the powerhouse vocals of Meghan Parnell and driven by the fiery guitar work of Dave Barnes, Bywater Call has been making waves across the globe, earning nominations from the Independent Blues and Maple Blues Awards, including “Entertainer of the Year” and “Best Female Vocalist.” Our own David loved their latest album Shepherd! […]