Review: Union Rocker Mike Stout Keeps Up the Fight on 20th Album
Pittsburgh rocker Mike Stout keeps churning them out, now releasing his 20th CD, “Blue And Green in Black And White.”
Stout, a union leader dubbed the World’s Grievance Man who specializes in songs of political and social justice songs, covers a wide range of topics here and all the genre bases, from bluegrass to rock, with blues, country and Irish in between.
“One Big Union” is a Celtic-style rally anthem, the folky “Terry Greenwood” salutes a farmer/truck-driver-turned-anti-fracking activist, rocker “Stand Up –The Water’s Running Out” is a warning about diminishing resources, “Under the Table” is a jazz vamp about underpaid, overworked employees and “Kidney Stone Blues” is a more personal take on a painful spell.
One song, “Keep ‘Em Safe and Alive,” was commissioned by Operating Engineers Local 66 and the Allegheny Labor Council to focus on the safety of road construction workers.
The 13-song album was recorded with a band of veteran Pittsburgh musicians including Jim Dougherty, Bob Banerjee, Joe Munroe, Corey Congilio Kevin McDonald and Tom Valentine at Red Medicine Recording Studio, Wilkins Audio and Soundscape Studio.
The Mike Stout & the Human Union CD Release Party release show, sponsored by the Union Edge labor talk radio show, is at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Letter Carriers Branch 84 Union Hall, 841 California Ave., North Side, Admission is $20; www.theunionedge.com/events; 724-787-5890
The CD is available for at:
Itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/blue-green-in-black-white/id1157731794
CDBaby: https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mikestout2
It is available for streaming on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/album/6MxPnOqEcNMNgO1tynN8Wx
Written by Scott Mervis, for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (published on 2016 October 06)