Deadbeat Lullabies is the third album from UK seven-piece Americana outfit Fine Lines. Their first two albums received a slew of glowing reviews and they’ve been a popular draw on the circuit, although so far they seem to have eluded me. Hopefully, that will be rectified before too long as they are a quality band and Deadbeat Lullabies is a fine album.
Fine Lines are Zoe Blythe (vocals), David Boardman (vocals and guitar), Gary O’Brien (piano and Hammond organ), Emily Doggett (fiddle), Chris Lee (pedal steel and mandolin), Jim Broughton (bass) and Mark Radcliffe (drums and backing vocals).
Put together by singer-songwriter David Boardman back in 2016 there’s harmony vocals (courtesy Boardman and fellow singer Zoe Blythe) exquisite pedal steel, infectious fiddle, great melodies and heartfelt lyrics. The song-writing is a joint endeavour between Boardman, who cooked up the tunes and the band’s drummer, BBC presenter and all-round music maestro, Mark Radcliffe, who came up with the lyrics. Radcliffe proves himself to be a talented lyricist. His observational storytelling perfectly captures the overall mood that the album evokes.
Fans of late-period Byrds, early-period Eagles, Gram Parsons, Tom Petty and the Band will all find plenty to like here. The influences are never far away but the songs are totally fresh and original.
While I’m writing this on a cold, dark evening in Hastings, these songs are just perfect for a chilled-out afternoon in the summer sun and I look forward to catching them at a festival at some point. We probably all need a bit more of Fine Lines in our lives at the moment.
Released: 25th October 2021
Darren's music blog 
Sounds great, Darren, love the harmony vocals and the warm sound. I’m not familiar with the group and will further check them out.
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Yes they’ve been going a few years now and well worth checking out. The drummer/lyricist is a well-known UK radio/TV presenter over here who presents the BBC’s Folk Show.
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