I caught the sound of this band a bit late after stumbling across their version of “Tear My Stillhouse Down” (which is an early release off their upcoming Cover to Cover V1 album and also features Lindsay Lou).   That was enough to get me looking into their other music which lead to giving City of Glass a listen and I was impressed.  These five musicians have good, fresh energy in their music that fits into the Americana genre but with some definite country and folk vibes along for the ride.  Listening through other selections from their catalog I found that their covers of other artists songs pay tribute to them while also adding something new.  It makes for a nice listening experience.  

I was tempted to select the eponymous title track from City of Glass for this review but eventually decided on “Bedside Window” as I was pretty familiar with that track from the California Honeydrops.  That original version that I heard on Like You Mean It has a starkness to it that gives it a real empty, sorrowful tone; a simple, subdued guitar plays lightly in the background to accompany Lech Wierzynski’s lonely-hearted vocals.  If you have heard versions of this song played live by the Honeydrops it does have a more full musical background but that one off the album was always my favorite.  

So, what do you get from this version by AJ Lee & Blue Summit?  There is more instrumentation here  that adds some volume and depth while still maintaining a pretty sorrowful tone.  I think it is just a little bit bouncier than the Honeydrops version and it works well.  The muted mandolin and fiddle are prominent as is a slow, powerful bass line.  Some of the stark quality I liked on that original Like You Mean It version is missing but this track is lonesome enough to deliver the message.  

Musicians on this are: Scott Gates (guitar, vocals), AJ Lee (vocals, mandolin), Jan Purat (fiddle), Sullivan Tuttle (guitar, vocals) and there is a bass player but I had a hard time chasing down the name for certain…so my apologies to that musician and I will happily update this post if I get good info on it.  

You can check out more of the music and information on the Bandcamp page https://ajleebluesummit.bandcamp.com/album/city-of-glass

Pleas remember to support your local community 🙂

If you want to check the video for the “City of Glass” song on this album (it is filmed at the Grand Ole Opry!), see below:  

And please think about purchasing this song after you listen – streaming music does not pay much even times a thousand…

Let me know you think!