Big plug for “Except Always,” the outstanding new album by my good friend, George Marinelli, a very talented guitarist/multi-instrumentalist I’ve been fortunate enough to work with a fair amount over the years. We met many years ago, not long after I moved to Nashville, at a gig I played at12th and Porter – although he says it’s the Sutler – and we could both be wrong. George is well known as a Grammy award-winning founding member of Bruce Hornsby & the Range, a longtime guitarist for the Bonnie Raitt Band, A list session guy, and all around “good egg.”
That said, George is also a stellar artiste in his own right, and his latest, out now on Loud Folk Records, is an expansive two-CD set – one side of new stuff and another of back catalogue recordings. Yes, the White Album and Sign of the Times have got nothing on this one. On the new stuff, there are touches of pop, reggae (“Only a Fool”, stones-esque gutbucket rock, groovy acoustic balladry (“Tell me What it’s All About”), instrumental prowess (“Howling”), and more. I’m also chuffed to say that the greatest hits disc includes two songs we wrote together (“Heat Wave in December,” and “Crystal Staircase”), bringing back fond memories of working at George’s Nashville Wing Ding Complex. The operation has since moved to Connecticut (forging the “Cotown Sound”) and while I miss not having him and his fam in town anymore, his fine new platter is on regular rotation in my car. If you’re looking for something new, yet accessible, and extremely well-played and well-written, check it out now: https://georgemarinelli.bandcamp.com/album/except-always
Doug Hoekstra 