Some time ago I mentioned one of our \u2018golden nugget\u2019 moments at WOAS-FM occurred when Australian Hammond B-3 wizard Lachy Doley dropped us a line announcing the release of his newest CD Conviction.<\/i> \u00a0Subsequent research lead to another happy accident when I discovered that Lachy has a keyboard playing brother named Clayton, a fact confirmed good naturedly by Lachy when I asked \u2018which one of you is better\u2019 and he replied, \u201c I’m better of course hahahahahahaha – I reckon we are both pretty different in style even though we both play the organ and keys.\u201d \u00a0Not long after this exchange, I got my second \u2018Doley family golden nugget surprise\u2019 when Clayton himself sent me an email inquiring if we would like to air a copy his new CD Bayou Billabong<\/i>. \u00a0It has arrived and it is going to be a lot of fun contrasting the Doley brothers music because Lachy hit the nail on the head about them having \u2018pretty different styles . . . even though we both play the organ and keys\u2019.<\/p>\n
The first thing I noticed in the CD notes is the long list of international artists that Clayton has worked with. \u00a0Included on the list were Joe Bonamassa, Steve Cropper, Donald \u2018Duck\u2019 Dunn, \u00a0Jim Barnes, The Divinyls, Louisiana Red, Guitar Shorty, and Hubert Sumlin. \u00a0The last three were especially interesting to me because it puts a decidedly Americana – Roots spin on Clayton\u2019s resume and all three are artists we spin on our Pete & Zenith\u2019s Blues program.<\/p>\n
The second interesting item in the liner notes was the eclectic line up of musicians who perform on Bayou Billabong<\/i>. \u00a0The Didgeridoo player (Ganga Giri) was of course an interesting inclusion, as were members of Galactic, \u00a0Trombone Shorty\u2019s New Orleans Ave and lap slide master Harry Manx. \u00a0We have aired both Trombone Shorty and Manx over the years and took note that Clayton has toured backing up Canadian Manx as well as Texan Eugene \u2018Hideaway\u2019 Bridges. \u00a0The other special guest who wasn\u2019t a huge surprise was Clayton\u2019s organ playing brother, Lachy.<\/p>\n
What Bayou Billabong<\/i> represents is not an Americana-roots music cover album or even a tribute album for that matter. \u00a0It is a collection of Doley originals inspired by the music of New Orleans piano masters and the songs \u2018feature not only Doley\u2019s amazing keyboard skills but his quirky lyrics and song artistry\u2019 according to the media info sheet provided. \u00a0\u00a0I am looking forward to hearing Doley\u2019s previous release Desperate Times<\/i> as it made quite a splash in the world of Blues Radio. \u00a0It reached number two on the Australian Blues and Roots charts and number nine in the US Roots Music Report Blues Charts. \u00a0It will be interesting to see how deep in the blues Clayton was before taking a slight swing toward the New Orleans roots end of the spectrum.<\/p>\n
The first thought I had previewing Bayou Billabong was \u2018it swings\u2019. \u00a0I am not sure what \u2018New Orleans style music\u2019 conjures up in your mind, but I was pleasantly surprised at the variety of styles presented here. \u00a0While there are only so many ways to play a polka, for instance, this isn\u2019t even close to the \u2018one song sounds just like another\u2019 pit that some artists fall into. \u00a0Clayton infuses all the songs here with a New Orleans vibe, yet they contain everything from Professor Longhair piano to Stax R&B to smooth, almost Barry White like groove. \u00a0Amazingly, Doley has a pleasant vocal style that fits all of the songs presented here.<\/p>\n
Although this article is primarily about Clayton\u2019s new CD, I should also mention that I have been previewing Lachy\u2019s SOS<\/i> and Conviction<\/i> CDs which will no doubt be reviewed in the not so distant future.. \u00a0The Doley brother\u2019s CDs will be shared with our listeners when the broadcast year resumes in the fall and I think the best way to settle the contrast issue between the two keyboard players is to let our listeners decide. \u00a0WOAS-FM will do our share to spread the word about some of the great music coming from the land down under. \u00a0We also appreciate Clayton and Lachy contributing their stories to our upcoming segment \u2018Everybody Starts Somewhere – Part 2\u2019 that chronicles the first paying gigs of some of the musicians we have been in contact with. \u00a0Stay tuned!<\/p>\n
The video posted with this FTV is a great example of Clayton’s playing on Bayou Billabong – here is is description of the clip:<\/p>\n
A sneak peak into our recording session at The Music Shed in New Orleans. It was our first day and we were tracking just the beds at the time of this video so here it’s drums, guitar, bass and piano but the finished product has vocals, horns and organ added. \u00a0The song is one of my original tunes played in a Professor Longhair style called ‘Lose It’ and the Musicians are New Orleans heavyweights Dig D Perkins on Guitar, Cornell Williams on Bass and Eddie Christmas on Drums. \u00a0We recorded some great stuff on the day and I am really excited about this album, I can’t wait for everyone to hear it when it is finished. Thanks to Kim Welsh for taking the Video.<\/p>\n