2020 is producing some seriously incredible bluegrass, and on the independent side of the market, artists like Steve Thomas & The Time Machine are offering rookie content just as interesting as anything the vets are coming up with. Steve Thomas himself has a long history within the country music community, and alongside his band The Time Machine, he constructs a wonderful amalgamation of Americana-inspired genres perfect to get the summer started with in their virgin outing. Featuring songs like the freewheeling “Down In The Wildwood,” “Rocky Road Blues” and fast-paced “The Rat Race,” the new album All Of These Years is a smashing introduction to its creators, and perhaps even more significant than that, it’s a great way of getting acquainted with the current state of indie bluegrass as it stands with one of its best new acts.
URL: www.stevethomasmusic.net/
There’s so much passion coming from the vocals we hear in “Since Love Came Around,” “Lucky Man” and “Far Far Cry” that it’s almost a little surprising that the backing band is able to keep up as well as they are. I wouldn’t say there’s any specific moment in which either party here sounds overwhelmed by the other, but I would note that there are plenty of examples worth pointing out where our singer is the sole occupant of the spotlight. He’s got an endless amount of moxie flowing through his veins and making itself present to us in his delivery, and yet he’s very careful to avoid the overindulgent components that have brought down many of his peers in the last couple of years.
All Of These Years – Steve Thomas and the Time Machine featuring Del McCoury. **Behind the Song**
Steve Thomas talks about the title track from his album “All Of These Years” which features Del McCoury on tenor vocal. Check out the song here: musi…
I think most listeners are going to agree with me when I say that bluegrass is best enjoyed live in front of a roaring concert hall or open-air venue full of people ready to groove, and the title cut in All Of These Years, “I Wonder Where You Are Tonight” and “The Moon Over Georgia” would all make for killer stage performances in this capacity. Their bucolic elements can’t really be as expressive in this setting as they would at an in-person show, and if I have my way, we’ll all get to see this crew performing their material on the road sooner than later. Americans could sure use a little live entertainment in the months that follow our reemergence from the novel coronavirus pandemic, and a band like Steve Thomas & The Time Machine could be the perfect group to bring it to the masses.
APPLE MUSIC: music.apple.com/us/album/all-of-these-years/1500647297
Those who live for a swinging pastoral melody free of the commercial chains that water-down much of Nashville’s best output would be quite wise to get their hands on a copy of All Of These Years this May. Steve Thomas & The Time Machine are relatively fresh faces to the majority of bluegrass audiences around the world right now, but if they continue to build on the momentum created by this initial offering, I think they’re going to raise their profile a lot faster than some would expect them to. They’ve got a lot of capabilities between them, and with the one and only Steve Thomas to lead the way, I’d say their odds are looking better and better with each studio dispatch they share.
Clay Burton