From Canada East Times & Transcript, April 2nd, 2008
http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/rss/article/256540
Eric Lewis
Published Wednesday April 2nd, 2008
Appeared on page D4
Eric Lewis rates his music reviews on a scale of one to five, with (*) equivalent to a poor rating, (**) fair, (***) good, (****) very good and (*****) excellent.
Time
(Independent)
(***)
Rothesay singer-songwriter John Hughes gained some attention for himself when his tune "Bring 'Em On" was featured on Neil Young's website in 2006 after the legendary songwriter issued a call looking for protest songs against the Bush administration and the war in Iraq.
This was after Hughes had already been fronting a Neil Young tribute act, Broken Arrow. "Bring 'Em On" garned considerable attention for Hughes and he took advantage of it, recording his debut solo album shortly afterward with veteran producer Joe Hardy (Steve Earle, Tom Cochrane) in Nashville.
Hughes' debut blends a classic rock sound with a bit of a rootsy vibe not unlike Neil Young's own material. Soulful, lush instrumentation, laced with keyboards and plenty of scrappy guitar, produce a sound tailor-made for radio.
Quirky lyrics here and there -- the oddball "Panic Mechanic" is sort of John Prine-ish -- make for an interesting listen. That tune leads right into the rocker "Ginned Up". Following that, the mid-tempo "Company Town" features a sentiment many blue collar workers can appreciate. The acoustic guitar plucked "Soldier On" is next (it's currently featured on Young's site), a sad and lonely tale of heading off to war. The upbeat and fun "Runaway" has a Traveling Wilbury's sort of feel and even features an accordion to warm things up.
The bluesy swagger of the title track and the throbbing, driving "Time For The Night" are both enjoyable tunes.
A solid debut that gets better with each listen. Hughes has a promising future for himself as a singer-songwriter.