Lee Gallagher & The Hallelujah – The Falcon Ate The Flower
This is Lee’s 3rd CD & while being originally from the Midwest he’s lived in San Francisco & now calls Nashville home. Lots of musicians seem to get around in their quest for inspiration & creativity. I wonder what I would create if I moved to Gibraltar (hard rock I guess).
Produced by Jason Soda (guitar) the 10-show pieces of The Falcon Ate The Flower (Drops Nov 3–Independent/45 minutes) unwind with a richly colored folk-era Rod Stewart vocal. It has a rasp but not a rawness. It’s quite attractive. Lee manages to replicate the proverbial soulful rock of that time but not on every song. The opening tune “Planes” is a good launching pad.
But Lee doesn’t rest on his Stewart tonality. Instead, he comes up with a more youthful sound on “Peregrine Fly,” that has a Van Morrison-balladry feel. His voice is expressive. While he doesn’t sing like Van, he has captured that cadre. None of the songs come off as country, folk, or rock – but well-written balladry with performances that are neutral as far as what type of music it may be. That doesn’t mean Lee is undefinable, he’s diversified & covers many areas eloquently.
The addition of violinist Scarlet Rivera also provides sophistication. Gallagher’s time-stamped some of the finest music once popular in the early 70s before bubblegum & disco reared their ugly heads. This is an intelligent showcase. The intense performances (“Something Better,” & “Can Anyone Hear Me?”) are impressive.
So, I can’t pin Lee down as a simple singer-songwriter. He has a liveliness to his tunes with a lead guitar that’s pulled from the annals of early 70s rock bands with exciting guitar solos that slither in & out like a snake from a burrow. I guess it’s safe to say that though Lee & his band aren’t retro his closet of musical antics is filled with fashions from early 70s soundscapes — then retro-fitted to 2023. They see-saw between a folkier Rod Stewart & stretch to obscure rock bands such as Frijid Pink with guitar notes that stab in a troubadour-based tune. Quite an idea.
Lee changes his voice in a few pieces & sometimes he possesses the song & sometimes the song possesses him. But the showcase is always entertaining.
With all the information from the press release, there was no mention as to what the album title meant. So, I guess that’s left up to the imagination. There’s no song on the CD called The Falcon Ate The Flower.
Highlights – “Planes,” “Peregrine Fly,” “Something Better,” “Half Lit (The Future’s Ours),” “The Mission,” “Every Little Sound,” “Can Anyone See Me?” & “Remember When.”
Musicians – Steve Mertens (bass), Jonny Niemann (keys), Will Scott (drums) & featuring Scarlett Rivera (violin).
Color image courtesy of leegallaghermusic.com CD @ https://leegallagher.bandcamp.com/album/the-falcon-ate-the-flower & https://www.leegallaghermusic.com/