As he proved with the masterful Nothing Ever Goes as Planned, Gary Douglas has perfected the art of the subtly rising dynamic, of writing songs that start off in musically intimate, sonically gentle places and then slowly build themselves into anthemic, stadium filling epics. And latest release, Million Miles Away, follows a similar creative course.
They used to say that Springsteen was the sound of urban Americana and Mellencamp its country cousin, if that is so then The Gary Douglas Band has the ability to flit between the two locations combining the edge and street wise swagger of the former with the more pastoral and chilled sounds of the latter. And that is a great place to pitch yourself, halfway between the more driven end of the alt-country scene and the more emotive fringes of rock and roll, a place that appeals to two large audiences whilst offering something that breaks away from the traditional templates of both genres.
Roots rock and roll, I guess, is the perfect name for it and Million Miles Away is the type of song that sums up the three R’s perfectly.Â
