Zephaniah OHora Delivers Again with “Black & Blue”
Zephaniah OHora’s debut album This Highway from 2017 was so damn good, and so perfectly encapsulating and reverential to the classic era of country, it was downright eerie, and you worried he would never be able to match or surpass that level of country music perfection again. I mean, how could you? It had to be all uphill from there. Switching producers between his freshman and sophomore albums when he went with Neal Casal for new the one called Listening to the Music out August 28th also seemed like a risk.
But man does this Brooklyn-based throwback country crooner and songwriter just continue to deliver. Most of our worries were put to bed when we heard the first song from the new record, the Countrypolitan-feeling “All American Singer.” Now Zeph moves to a slightly different era on the country music timeline, yet still pulls off the feat of sounding more like Merle Haggard than Merle Haggard on the second track released from the record, “Black & Blue.”
Written right after Zephaniah finished his debut record, it once again proves that a guy from New York can do country music better than most. “People think you have to be from Texas or Nashville to play this music,” says Zephaniah OHora. “But that’s not the way I see it. Country’s all about being true to yourself and telling honest, authentic stories. You can do that anywhere.”
The way the double guitars harmonize with each other and emphasize the melody, and the songwriting finds that traditional feel, Zephaniah doesn’t even need to rhyme every verse to get you to feeling right.
Listening to the Music was recorded at The Bunker in Brooklyn and is dedicated to Neal Casal who passed away in August of 2019. Casal might be best known as the guitarist for The Cardinals from 2005 to 2009 when he put himself on the national map. From there he would collaborate with a host of who’s whos in alt-country and rock, including Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Hard Working Americans, The Skiffle Players, GospelbeacH, Jaime Wyatt, Phil Lesh of The Grateful Dead, and Shooter Jennings. Casal also released 12 solo albums of his own.
“My hope is that this recording shines a light on the unique gift Neal had,” says OHora. “Whether he was on stage in front of thousands or in a small recording studio with friends, Neal connected with people through music in a profound and lasting way. His legacy serves as a reminder of just how precious a commodity music is for humankind. I’m thankful I got to experience the growth that comes with working with someone who embodied that.”
Listening To The Music in now available for pre-order on BandCamp where it will be available early.
July 17, 2020 @ 10:37 am
So legit it hurts.
August 28th can’t come fast enough.
Take my money now.
July 20, 2020 @ 4:33 pm
Shades of the Hag. Love it!
July 17, 2020 @ 11:00 am
Every song and album should be judged on its own perhaps, but when people double down on actual country music, and do it this well, sure puts a smile on my face. It’s almost as if he actually loves country music or something.
Did Neal die right at the end of making this – I mean how long ago was it recorded??
July 17, 2020 @ 11:25 am
Love it.
The beat is “Makeup and Faded Blue Jeans,” which goes to show you how Zeph loves country music to the point of loving its deep cuts. And it’s not just him: John Lee Shannon and all those Skinny Dennis boys around Jim Campilongo know their stuff.
Not just anyone can pick up an instrumeny and make great music, but great music can come from anywhere.
July 17, 2020 @ 11:52 am
New York City?!!!
Get a rope.
Kidding. Damn, this is really good. Usually when North Easterner’s dabble in “country” it’s either some watered down NPR-Americana or otherwise layered in hipster irony and comes of as a tongue-in-cheek joke. This is not any of those things. Cannot wait for this.
July 17, 2020 @ 12:40 pm
Hey, Jerry Jeff Walker came from Oneonta, New York. Gillian Welch and Willie Watson are also form NY State. They are on the folkier side but not watered down.
July 17, 2020 @ 4:08 pm
Actually I think Gillian is a California girl.
July 18, 2020 @ 12:44 pm
Oneonta may not be in the South, but it’s a long way from New York City. A beautiful place.
July 17, 2020 @ 3:34 pm
And Charlie Marie from Rhode Island.
July 17, 2020 @ 3:52 pm
Technically raised in New Hampshire. But now a resident of NYC. Yeah, hes a unique character but his music is absolutely coming from a genuine place.
July 17, 2020 @ 4:51 pm
How about Eddie Rabbitt? Or, more recently, Jo Dee Messina?
July 17, 2020 @ 4:59 pm
Don’t forget Aaron Lewis. Hearing “That Ain’t County” play on country radio right after Luke Bryan was priceless
July 17, 2020 @ 5:15 pm
Yup. “75” is one of the greatest driving songs of the last decade:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XOT0z4ULk3I
Solid country gold through and through.
July 17, 2020 @ 7:48 pm
That Aaron Lewis song is awesome.
July 18, 2020 @ 6:55 am
A few more, because it’s fun.
Peter Rowan – Boston, MA
David Grisman – Passaic, NJ
David Rawlings – RI
Gibson Brothers (bluegrass) – way upstate NY
July 18, 2020 @ 8:24 am
Anybody from Canadia…I could name a few.
July 18, 2020 @ 8:35 am
Go Corb!
July 18, 2020 @ 1:57 pm
Interestingly, country music is probably more popular in Canada than in the Northeast. I suspect that is due to 2 reasons:
1) No history of animosity between Canada and the American South.
2) Stronger British roots in Canada (outside Quebec) make it demographically more like the American South than the Northeast.
July 18, 2020 @ 3:03 pm
I’m a youngish boomer who grew up in the NYC area. Country music was popular with my parents’ generation, who did not grow up on rock and roll. My Dad listened to the 50,000 watt NYC country station WHN. The station went to a sports talk format in the late ’80s, I think. Before the switch, it still had a lot of listeners, but not the right age demographic for advertisers. Now, Southern Rock was big in NYC area. I remember Charlie Daniels playing a big community college fieldhouse concert (Grateful Dead and Doobies played there as well) about a year before before The Devil Went Down to Georgia. Other country rock bands like Pure Prairie League, New Riders of the Purple Sage and Poco did alright, too.
July 17, 2020 @ 12:11 pm
Brilliant! But we knew it would be. Absolutely sounding like Hag…Yes, Yes, Yes.
July 17, 2020 @ 12:22 pm
His sound makes me so happy!
July 17, 2020 @ 12:50 pm
I simultaneously love this guys stuff and think he sounds way to much like Merle Haggard. I feel like he needs to develop his own sound a bit more.
July 17, 2020 @ 7:55 pm
That would be my one qualm about his sound. He’s already very much a repristinator; for me it’s an additional risk to sound a lot like a particular past artist. Now, we’ve only got two cuts from the new album, and I’m guessing the rest of it will branch out some.
I’m hoping the masses will be understanding if Ben Haggard sounds less like his Dad than this (if he ever releases an album).
July 17, 2020 @ 1:10 pm
Loved his last album and looking forward to more of this after hearing a couple of these songs. Great Countrymusic!
July 17, 2020 @ 2:01 pm
Fantastic, can’t wait for the rest of the album. Love the steel guitar on this one.
July 17, 2020 @ 2:22 pm
Damn. I’ve heard the name but never sat down and listened to this guy and if you just played me this track without any context I’d swear it was a Merle song I’d just never heard. This is uncanny. I’ve gotta go download whatever I can find of this guy. I was clearly late to a very good party.
July 17, 2020 @ 3:25 pm
Nice song. Although the voice resembles Merle, the music is reminiscent of the Waylon Jennings Outlaw sound.
July 17, 2020 @ 4:56 pm
I can really hear the Merle influences on these first two songs. I’m extremely excited
July 17, 2020 @ 7:46 pm
Great singing. Brilliant steel guitar. What’s not to like?
July 17, 2020 @ 7:54 pm
I realize that there is a lot of space for various styles of country, including in my own tastes….but when I hear this guys music, and Jesse Daniel’s latest album for example, I can’t help wonder…. why don’t more bands go all out like these guys? Why make records that kinda sound country and have “elements” of country or are “country rock?” I’m not talking about country radio / mainstream shit as that’s hardly worth talking about. I mean some of my other favorites bands. There’s something about this approach that sounds so good, it might be slightly lowering my estimation of other bands.
July 20, 2020 @ 7:00 am
I completely agree – was listening to Rollin On and thinking that exact thing (with a band sounding like that, I would have put them front and center rather than Jesse Daniel to be honest). Having those bridges or outros where the band is showing their stuff just adds so much more to a song. It’s what made Turnpike so good in addition to the great songwriting.
July 17, 2020 @ 10:44 pm
Jeez this is corny. Why can’t these posers leave C(c)ountry music alone.
July 18, 2020 @ 6:15 am
Maybe it’s because they’re still not fortunate enough to know about the patent pending, Honky C(c)ountry Music Purity Test (TM). If only they had, perhaps there’d have long given up, and you wouldn’t be forced to begrudgingly read about them anymore. There really is no justice in this world. But there’s hope….Call within the next 20 minutes and we’ll throw in Honky Grumpy Comment Generator (TM) for free! Operators are standing by.
July 18, 2020 @ 2:41 pm
Why didn’t you you the trademark icon on your phone?™️
July 18, 2020 @ 3:34 pm
Strong call Honky… or should I say…strong call AutoHonk 2000 ™️? ????
July 18, 2020 @ 2:02 am
As an italian country music lover and singer i can’t but agree with what Zephaniah says.
I love these two songs even more than the debut album and his phrasing is top notch.
July 18, 2020 @ 6:38 am
From his first album, he did the old pop song “Something Stupid” which Sinatra did. It was really interesting to hear it Countrified and was so very catchy! Again a treasure born in NH!
July 18, 2020 @ 9:22 am
I can’t wait to receive it, it looks as good as the first, can be even better (not easy), Cliff Westfall is also from New York, his album – baby you win – is also great
July 18, 2020 @ 11:50 am
He should tour with Mo.
July 18, 2020 @ 12:19 pm
Zeph is one of the reasons i don’t worry about the direction of country music. Excited to hear the whole album.
July 18, 2020 @ 5:01 pm
Good stuff. When you hear Zephaniah’s records, and throw Jesse Daniel’s recent album in there too, it really makes you wonder why people with much bigger budgets can’t seem to properly record and mix a record. Jinks (especially), Whitey Morgan, Boland and many more. I’m not saying everything has to have a throwback sound, but there are so many county artists who could benefit from going away from the overly digital sounding crap and actually recording an album with some tonal vibrance.
July 19, 2020 @ 3:42 pm
I never heard a lot of the issues people have with the Jinks records, but for sure the lack of quality in most country and Americana recordings today is astounding, and even more so when you figure out it’s done on purpose as an aesthetic. Then when someone just gets in a studio, captures some clear signals, and masters them to today’s audio standard, they’re already two steps ahead of everyone else. I’m as baffled as you are why so many get this wrong.
July 19, 2020 @ 4:01 pm
Thanks Trig. Jinks stuff just sounds harsh and boomy to me, mainly the drums. I also agree on the fake “lowfi” stuff you are alluding to.
Another album that was really well done was Courtney Patton’s last record.
It’s just crazy to me. If I were lucky enough to be able to put out a professionally produced album, I’d obsess over the sound. We also shouldn’t overlook the element of the musicians involved. I think that is a big part of what Jesse Daniel got right. But a lot of these guys probably couldn’t bear to tell their longtime band members that they weren’t going to be on the next studio album. And I get that.
July 20, 2020 @ 3:39 am
You just sold me on the Daniel record.
July 21, 2020 @ 9:17 am
I pitched in on Zeph’s Kickstarter for this album in what seem’s like an eternity ago. Zeph sent regular updates to us and I remember the obvious pain he was in when Neal Casal tragically took his own life. It happened right at the end of recording and understandably set the whole project back for months. It was scheduled to be out in December of last year. I can’t wait to get it!