West Taylor – Available Parts
Columbus Ohioan musician West Taylor released his album Available Parts on May 1. This album was recorded at Earthwork Recording Studio and Capital University; produced by Jesse Henry;
engineered by Chad Loughrige and mixed by Alex Estrada. It was mastered by Jordan Fehr.
This is a panoramic view of folk and older style country music and as you get further into the album, the tunes get richer with meaning and some added banjo and fiddle.
The album opens with “Losing My Way,” “everything ends up blowing away, and leavin’ nothing good behind,” and strummed acoustic guitar nice and easy like a ’70s folk song. Then “Mile Higher” adds some pedal steel to the mix, and a faster tempo. By the time you’re into the third song, you’re having a slow dance in a Western saloon with the pedal steel turned sorrowful. “But I ain’t riskin’ the smell of her perfume.”
Then the magic increases as the title track pays homage to disillusionment: “when talking heads say the world is ending, do they ever say the price it pays?” and then there’s a little mandolin and some sweet vocal harmonies: “burn the ships, break your heart, mend what’s left with available parts, find your place out among the stars, keep your feet on the ground.” If you need to start at the heart of the album, play this one first. Or maybe start with the next one: “Cumberland River” is some sweet banjo and fiddle, and it sounds a little like some old Son Volt.
Give it a spin. Musicians on the album are West Taylor on songwriting, vocals, acoustic guitar and tambourine; Chad Loughrige on harmonies; Alyssa Graber on vocals and harmonies; Alex Estrada on banjo, pedal steel, and second acoustic guitar; Nick Kurth on electric guitar; Jeffrey Ciampa on bass and piano; Tony Gayle McClung on drums; Caleb Edgar Powers on fiddle and mandolin; and Nathan Little on harmonies.
You can find West Taylor’s music here: https://open.spotify.com/album/3lynQr8rH7omZverJ916ku?si=GefhNZ86SbGBmtMAdJFbkg
The album cover photo is courtesy of @cowtownchad.