SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FRED WICKHAM CARAVAN – TOWN WITHOUT SOUL

FRED WICKHAM CARAVAN
TOWN WITHOUT SOUL
BLACK SITE RECORDS

If you think it is an easy thing to combine the intricate elements of The Band with Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, then you haven’t heard that many roots/country/Americana albums recently.

You see, it is so easy to come up with some patched-up, copycat music of the above two legendary bands and not go anywhere with it. To be able to come up with anything that would sound like a reminder of those bands greatness and even add a personal touch to the proceedings requires both hefty musical knowledge and experience, and we got that here in Fred Wickam Caravan and their latest album Town Without Soul.

Fred Wickham himself has been a fixture on the Midwest folk/roots scene for a while now, while Caravan is composed of some seasoned Kansas City roots musicians.

Basically, on Town Without Soul we got everything any roots/Americana connoisseur could wish for – based on The Band and Commander Cody at their best, they throw in traces of everybody from Johnny Cash/Bob Dylan Nashville Skyline combination to soul roots legends like Delbert McClinton and Dan Penn with ease and aplomb making it all sound as something their own and personal.
Essentially, ‘that’ town might not have soul, but Fred Wickham Caravan certainly do.

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