You are hereAlbum Review: Michael Stegner - Fascination Nation (CMA Records)
Album Review: Michael Stegner - Fascination Nation (CMA Records)
There's a laid-back, somewhat unenthusiastic quality to Kentucky-based Michael Stegner's tenor voice, coupled with an occasional 'just-woke-up' crackle. His vocals seem to hang perilously from his melodies, and though they could easily let go and tumble down the stave at any moment, they don't. After a few songs, you suddenly get it, just like that first time you heard David Byrne, Nick Cave or Ben Folds - all, surely, amongst Stegner's influences. Here's a voice you want to tell people about, knowing all too well (and rather enjoying the fact) that some of those people will wonder what the heck you've been smoking.
If we're talking influences, you might want to step back a little and take in the entire landscape of Stegner's debut album, FASCINATION NATION. There are moments on this record, particularly on the tracks Illumined Man and I Miss You, that are so Randy Newman, you'd half expect to hear them featured in a Disney/Pixar film. Michael is, himself, a fine pianist but, like Newman, manages to cross a spectrum of genres with notable agility. The songs on this album go from jazz to soul to funk to blues, but each keep a leather boot firmly grounded in story-fuelled country music. Thankfully, Stegner has brought along a strong line-up of fellow musicians to help colour in-between the lines: Forrest Giberson (bass), Joe Doria (Hammond organ), Colin Higgins (guitar), Mark Fung and Andy Sells (drums/percussion) as well as Dan Tyack, who provides a noteworthy steel guitar that makes the album sound like its front cover – a sun-drenched salvage yard, full of rusted tractor parts beneath a piercing blue American sky. There's also the occasional flourish of brass and some heavenly backing harmonies, too.
Liam Wilkinson
Northern Sky
