Press

Netrythms.co.uk - 1st January 2009

Steve McCormick - Lowlight And Footnotes (Own Label)

Steve's probably easiest termed a loosely Americana-styled singer-songwriter based near Carlisle, with an appealingly individual angle on the genre. Basically, his clever, observational take on all things country comes from a very English perspective, as much reminiscent of Squeeze (very much so at times, in fact) as (say) Bob Cheevers or Robbie Fulks. Having said that, there's plenty of commendably self-deprecating humour amidst his pithy commentaries. For instance, My Woman Doesn't Give A Damn comes on like Billy Bragg meets the Burritos - great stuff...Maybe the opener Another English Cowboy goes a little too far towards self-parody, with a hint of over-deliberate point-making, but as a general rule Steve makes all the right noises and his songs wear a badge of conviction that overrides the very occasional feeling of contrivance. You can hear there's potential for songs such as The Other Man and Breaking Hearts being covered by other artists too. The conviction in his lyrics is backed with a knowing empathy with the genre in which he evidently feels musically most comfortable, for on this his debut CD, he plays all the instruments himself (aside from pedal steel, for which he brings in Dave Midgley). Impressive. Yeah: Steve's alright, Jack!

David Kidman

December 2008