Red Shoes
Album: All The Good Friends
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.redshoes-music.com

One of the great things about crowd sourcing, is not only does it allow projects completed earlier than if the artists are entirely self funding, it also gives people more of a chance to be involved. An additional benefit is that it helps create the publicity and get a real buzz going, you never know it might also bring a guest request or two your way.

Red Shoes went down the pledge music route to fund their latest album, "All The Good Friends" and haven't really looked back from that decision. Like a number of crowd sourcing ideas, this wasn't just about the actual release, it was also about the little extras that come from upping the contribution, the t-shirt, the house-gig, the poster etc.

For "All The Good Friends", Red Shoes have stepped up from being a duo, Mark & Carolyn Evans to a four piece core with the addition of Tony Kesley and Bert Priest. A glance at the guest musicians reads like a who's who of Black Country musicians, Dave Pegg, Dave Swarbrick, Chris Leslie, Ric Sanders, Bill Hunt, Bev Bevan, Rob Mason and Brian Badhams.

One of the trademarks of Red Shoes songwriting has been the intimacy of their songs, they are a band that expose a lot of their relationship through their songs and I was intrigued as to how the step up to a larger combo would affect that and was really pleased to discover that the answer is very well. The increased instrumentation allows for a fuller sound to be wrapped around the words, emphasising the intimate nature of what's being projected.

With the exception of an extraordinary cover of "Goodbye Blackberry Way" a slower version than the original and one that brings out the darkness contained at the heart of the lyric, as well as including The Move's Bev Bevan on the recording, it also has a James Bond feel to it in places that helps build a sense of drama, the album was penned from within the band. That gives the album a real inner strength, though one that isn't always comfortable, check out "River Rae" as an example of exposing and overcoming scars.

"All The Good Friends" has got a classic folk rock feel, but not at the expense of sounding like it's trapped in the past, the writing, arrangements and production are simply too good to allow it to fall into that trap. This is an album of a band that love their music and want to share the joy of performance with everyone around them. They must have also had a hard choice with the sign off track, going with "The Last Dance", leaving "Swansong" earlier in the album :-)

This is an album that is partly a conversation with its audience and because it assumes that there is a trust with that audience, it feels that it can speak freely and that always leads to far more interesting albums than those that keep the conversation light because they don't feel they know you. "All The Good Friends" is a songwriters album and a folk rock performance, a great listen, one you should treat yourself to.

Neil King