Customer Reviews

Steel Guitar Air Show

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Like his brother-in-steel, Joe Goldmark, pedal player Jon Rauhouse has a loopy, lopsided take on the music he loves, and he shows off an amazing versatility, romping through novelty instrumentals ("Glow Worm"), western swing, Hawaiian slack-key, spy jazz and buoyant, mellowed out R&B oldies. All sorts of folks from the Bloodshot scene pitch in, including Neko Case, Sally Timms and others, but it's basically Rauhouse's show. I don't tend to be a big fan of the tounge-in-cheek instrumental albums of recent vintage, but this one is consistantly engaging and inventive... worth checking out!

Straight from half the albums released by Bloodshot Records comes the Steel Guitar Virtuoso Jon Rauhouse. The music is varied yet invariably makes you feel fine in a topdown riding your big fin Caddie across country to Hipsville and all points Cool sort of way. Is it Kitsch? Yeah, but theres kitsch and then theres Kitsch. The performers helping out with vocals and such give you a nice view of some of the other talents handled by this small label. I heartily reccomend this album. I also reccomend checking out the Bloodshot Records website for other great albums. The Website offers great sales and free shipping within the Continental U.S.

I'll start by saying that I've always liked the snippets of steel guitar interlaced in the old country melodies of the 50's and 60's...but then I truly like all kinds of music. On my quest to discover a Steel Guitar album that really focused on the instrument, I ran across Mr. Jon Rauhouse. I was pleasantly surprised to discover a power-master of his craft which left me satisfied in my quest, yet longing for a deeper catalogue of albums.

Jon Rauhouse's tunes are the kind that stick with you long after you've heard them, and as another review put very aptly: "audio antidoepressant." The tune: "Can 'O Corn" sticks to your ribs for hours in a way that modern music just won't do. If you are a fan of nostalgic or hip-billy music, you can't go wrong with this album - buy Steel Guitar Air Show first, then pick up the next album that's released!