KANE WELCH KAPLIN AN ALTERNATIVE COUNTRY FUSION TRIO WHO DONT SOUND ANYTHING LIKE DOLLY PARTON

Hold the heavy metal and hard rock thought for a few hours, because i just wanted to post an article tonight on a very obscure recording which i think is ants pants and is as far removed from heavy metal as you could ever get. I have been playing this particular country fusion album lately all the time, it's a mini three piece supergroup of sorts from three relatively underachieving alternative country musicians named KANE WELCH KAPLIN, the surnames of the three participants. Although grounded in traditional country, the regular addition of banjo, fiddle, mandolin, tamborine to the steel guitar foundations of the recording gives it an obvious bluegrass feel on many tracks. On a few of the tracks especially Kieran Kane, Kevin Welch and Fats Kaplin appear to intentionally attempt to defy melodic convention and the result is some of the most bizarre and erratic time signatures ever recorded in a Nashville recording studio. But this alternative rock like diversion for the most part fits in perfectly with the lyrical eccentricities and simmering but controlled angst of the unconventional melodies being played. My favourite songs include two of the more untempo ones, 12 CHIMES and the totally left of field DARK BOOGIE #7, while the more reflective tunes sung by Welch like LAST LONG HIGHWAY, HIGHLAND MARY and I WISH I HAD THAT MANDOLIN, the latter a story about Welch as a young kid wanting to get his hands on a very special mandolin, takes lyrical storytelling to a telepathically visual level. The final track WHAT ARE THEY DOIN' IN HEAVEN TODAY? is the tearjerker, sung by Welch as well, it is equally sad and uplifting for anyone who is thinking of a loved one who has passed away. Besides DARK BOOGIE #7, which is by far the most eccentric of the songs sung by Welch, the two standout songs sung by Kieran Kane, AIN'T GONNA DO IT and THAT'S WHAT I GOT, are really out there and dare i say are probaly a bit too experimental for more mainstream tastes. I believe this trio may have recorded other albums under the same generic surname title without an actual album title, if so make sure you buy the right album. This one has a big fat dude on the front cover with a cigarette in his mouth and the back cover has a guy slumped over a bar with tears in his eye with a glass of white white in front of him. If this album is any indication, then the other corroborations between Kane, Welch and Kaplin should satisfy the music tastes for anyone who likes a classic blend of american country, bluegrass and americana of other shapes and sizes.