Keith Glass & Mick Hamilton – Clutching at Straws

Since meeting on their first day at Brighton High School in 1958, Keith and Mick’s musical paths went separate ways for a few decades until coming together again in the early 90’s. Then, in company with another long term cohort, they came up with three albums under the collective moniker of Glass, Hamilton, Young.
Following that they collaborated on three solo releases by Keith and one by Mick. They also found the time (and the lack of taste) to be responsible for ‘True Blue Aussie Christmas’ with The Dimmer Twins.

Finally they have produced an album as a duo, the songs representing their current live performances. Several of these fall into the loose category of ‘protest songs’ indicating an increasing level of concern about the direction in which our world seems to be heading.

Joining the duo on various tracks are Melbourne based musicians Terry Dean (Dobro), Garry Carruthers (banjo), Paul Gadsby (bass) and Peter Luscombe (drums).

“Fine singing, tasty instrumental touches and attention capturing arrangements – all of this from Keith and Mick and all with a distinct country flavour. These guys are experienced songwriters and they have enjoyed some award winning recognition along the way. Ironically their “flagship” song of the moment “The Sword and the Cross” as good as it is, is matched by other lyrical and musical efforts on this recording. To me, this demonstrates the strength of their repertoire. To be specific the opening track “The State of Love” and later, “Look Away Now” and ‘Are We There Yet?’ are splendid lyrical and musical examples of the genre. There’s a touch of the smoky blues cellar in a couple of the songs for example “Living a Lie”and especially”I Only Miss Her When I Think of Her”. The latter features some outstanding piano playing by Lisette Cooper and a wonderfully unexpected chord structure which keeps the listener hooked in. These songs in particular have a superior feel of authenticity. I must confess to being caught up in the clever songwriting approach to the title track – it brought a genuine grin to my grizzled features. The lyrics in some of the love songs creep close to the “Country Cliche” line and the sentiments expressed in “In Black” are a bit too dark for me. One of the few songs not written by Mick or Keith “God, Country and My Baby”makes a bit too much use of a term for one’s female partner that in 2004, is a bit demeaning. A good reason to stick with their own superior writing skills. Loved the dobro, piano and guitar work in particular as well as the voices, separately and together. Keith and Mick have performed separately, together and in other combinations over the years and, on the basis of this CD I, for one hope they continue their collaboration. If you like acoustic country, you’ll love this.” Review by John Munro

“Keith and Mick have been working as solo artists and live together for some years now but this is their first album together as a duo. It contains 15 songs, mostly written by themselves, including the first recording of the winner of best Song of Tolerance at Port Fairy Folk festival 2001 “The Sword and the Cross”. The music is country/folk with some ‘protest’ songs included, performed by Keith & Mick on vocals, guitars and other instrumments, supported by a band of good musicians in the studio. A crisp sounding album with some above average songs to enjoy.” Review by Dieter Bajzek