Sad Daddy is a road-weathered acoustic Americana outfit that’s been making music together for more than a decade and a half now. The worn-in feeling of their fourth studio album Ozark Shine is a testament to their ongoing spirit of collaboration and sense of fun. Their blend of old time country and spirited jug band makes Sad Daddy sound like the best back porch band you’ve ever heard.
A key element in that vibe is that all four members – Joe Sundell (banjo, harmonica), Melissa Carper (upright bass), Rebecca Patek (fiddle), and Brian Martin (guitar, kazoo etc.) – contribute songs and sing lead vocals. A related element that gives this record its spontaneous, organic sound is that it was recorded live in Nashville’s Bomb Shelter Studio with all four members in the same room. It’s a mix of some older songs freshly put to wax and some new ones written during sessions in central Arkansas and while at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., where they represented the Ozarks.
The album is sequenced helpfully with one song each from the four leaders. It opens with Brian singing his boozy “Bootlegger” in his sturdy baritone, followed immediately by fiddler Rebecca’s twangy soprano on the languid, folksy “Let’s Go Fishin’,” highlighted by lovely harmonized “hoo-ooo”s on the chorus. Banjoist Joe lends his tenor to the fiddly waltz “Little Ozark Cabin,” a very Jimmie Rodgers vibe with sweet harmonies from Melissa on big reverb. Finally there’s Melissa’s cheeky, OCD inspired “Did We Turn Off The Stove,” a situation recognized by anyone who has set out on a road trip.
The whole album is in that down-home vein. “Yes I just might go fishing in the creek today, or pick a lazy tune up on the front porch if it rains,” as Joe sings in “Cabin,” and you feel like you’re there with them on that porch. That feeling is only enhanced by the handmade vibe, Joe supplementing his banjo with some old-timey harmonica and Brian diversifying the sound with kazoos and his trademark “mouth horn” accompaniment – he does a fine trombone on “Stove,” for instance.
For me the focus here is Melissa Carper, with her distinctive craggy vocals, her solid bass lines and top-notch songwriting. She always cuts to the essence of things, highlighting current events and issues without ever getting didactic, like her plea for spending real instead of plastic money in “Don’t You Take My Dollar Bill.” Her stark portrayal of depression “Down In A Hole,” is harrowing with its near a capella arrangement. Which is not to downplay the others’ contributions at all — Sad Daddy is absolutely an ensemble project. Favorites among the rest of the tracks are Patek’s laid back ballad “Frazzie,” Martin’s bluegrass romp “Bossman,” and Sundell’s tour de force of a closer “Kerosene Dream.” Ozark Shine leads with a bit of corn but the whole project, like those fishing holes, reveals surprising depths.
(Free Dirt, 2026)
