Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band

At the frayed bottom-edge of Indiana – just a moderate bike ride north of Louisville, Kentucky – multi-instrumentalist, artist, and songwriter Ryan Davis’ Americana-noir soundwaves have been emanating for years in a myriad of forms.

As the driving force for the lauded State Champion, a long-running member of Tropical Trash, administrator of the esoteric and excellent Cropped Out festival, and lone proprietor of the Sophomore Lounge label, Ryan put out his first proper solo release with Dancing On The Edge – a rich, 2-LP tapestry of tunes that absolutely glows over seven expansive tracks. It’s a pure collage of modernity and heritage.

Besides the Kosmische-synth and violin stabs suggesting a European component to their sound, Hammond organ swells build a musical bridge between 1969 Southern California and late-period Felt. Music and mint juleps never went down so well together.

The music is country-tinged, melancholic, gentle, minimal yet colourful in mood: a lilting highway accompaniment of crisp instrumentation and a relaxed, amiable approach to vocals with rhapsodic wordsmithery.

For fans of Bill Callahan, Silver Jews, solo David Berman, Kurt Vile, and ‘Comes A Time’-era Neil.