Though known for a wide-range of musical styles, Greater Cincinnati has always had an especially strong Americana/Roots music scene, as evidenced by the stacked lineup at the annual Rivertown Breakdown showcase. With the release of Nothing As It Was, Mark Utley and his band Magnolia Mountain should instantly jump to the top of any list of Cincinnati’s best Roots practitioners.
Nothing As It Was– to be release in conjunction with a MM show at The Southgate House with guest The Tillers and Kim Taylor- is soulful, haunting and pure, taking the best of Country, Folk and Bluegrass and refracting it through a modern prism. It rings incredibly authentic and timeless, an album that could have come out 40, 30 or 20 years ago but is too lively and crafty to stand as some sort of retro-music museum piece.
The “Roots” being spread around on Nothing are wide-reaching- “Irish Maggie” strides and jigs like a vintage Celtic Folk song, while the highlight, “Out of My Mind,” has the sad, ernest feel of a great George Jones love lament. Most startling and appealing is when Utley and Co. create something that transcends any genre. “Murder My Soul,” while perhaps designed with “murder ballad” intent, is a hovering, spooky slice of ethereal soul-searching that recalls the ghostly Indie Folk of artists like Midlake and Fleet Foxes.
Read more in Spill It here.
This article appears in Feb 18-24, 2009.