the stone hill all-stars - Wednesday In Winter

The Stone Hill All-Stars

Wednesday In Winter
​self-released; 2024

​By ​Dino DiMuro

From Baltimore, Maryland, comes The Stone Hill All-Stars with their seventh album titled Wednesday in Winter. Together since the late ’80s, the All-Stars have been backing musicians for artists like Greg Kihn, Sleepy LaBeef, and Jeff Rymes years before coming together for their own projects.

The All-Stars describe their music as “poetic lyrics set against American folk and Tejano-inflected dance music.” They use rock instrumentation with accents from accordion, tuba, trombone, and fiddle. Having listened to the album, I was initially concerned that each song would simply be poems recited to music, but that’s absolutely not the case, as every song quickly carves its own unique path. Recording, mixing, and mastering took place at Clean Cuts Studio in Baltimore.

The first track, “Wednesday in Winter,” is the clearest use of poetry atop music, with a distinct jazz flavor. Composer (and poet, I assume) John Shock mostly speaks his words but with a melodic lilt to certain passages, so it’s not just recitation against a backing track. His imagery is vivid and even funny in spots, barely leaving a moment to breathe. The whole package is topped off with a cool saxophone solo. “What I Left Unsaid” quickly upends expectations with a chugging, train-like bluegrass background. Shock already sounds more like a singer with amusing lyrics: “I know complexify is not a word / But that is what I’ve always done… I must complexify / to avoid the facts that stupify.” The fiddle, accordion, and country guitars are bright and stellar.

“Crazy About You” leads off with a Supertramp-like keyboard sound for a song where our narrator lays it all out for his object of love, using wild and descriptive imagery that might possibly scare his lady away. The swing comes in, finding every possible variation for being “crazy in love.” Another fine sax solo plays alongside brass, keys, and guitar. “Outside Lookin’ In” has a fast blues-rock tempo and a terrific chord-heavy guitar, with Shock’s lyrics spoken quickly in a Lou Reed tonality. “Beard and a Banjo” is a very funny track (especially for a bearded banjo player like me), where Shock tells the tale of a banjo player with just a hint of jealousy and amusement in the style of Loudon Wainwright. “He calls Hank Williams Hank / He calls Bob Dylan… Dylan / Sings Woody Guthrie, says he knows his grandchildren.” This may be my favorite.

“He’s Sedated” takes us back to smoky back-room jazz to feel appropriately sedated. Unlike most of the other tracks, this one is composed by Paul Victor Margolis, but lyrically and musically it fits right in with the rest. The story told here could be the plot of a dark but funny film noir: “He’s been reinstated at his former pay grade / but his Mojo has been deflated… the pencil snaps between his fingers and scrapes at a blister.” There’s an amazing moment where a solo guitar seems to have been processed through a duck’s neck!

“Tomcat Luziana Slaw” is credited to Jeff Rymes and Steve Mugalian and musically feels like a blues jam captured on tape, evoking the “Dixie Chicken” days of Little Feat. Shock moves away from recitation and fully commits musically to the tune. “The Highway Call” is a sweet, evocative folk-country lament with vocals in the Willie Nelson range, along with trap-like drums, weeping violin, and Salvation Army brass. Sorry, this one’s my favorite now! “Time for Me to Be Gone” is the appropriately titled closing track, and for this one, the band embraces accordion-led zydeco, with the writing credited to Mark Brine.

​To call this band unique doesn’t quite capture it. They provide good times with every track, and they do so with consistent excellence. Highly recommended!

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