Reviews

Vintage Guitar Magazine
by Ken Johnson
"Down to its honest core, the 10-track Old Stock is barefoot,
front-porch, sipping-sweet-tea-or-something-stronger music
at its most enjoyable, the kind of roots-righteous effort that
Roy Bookbinder might add to his year-end “Best Of” list if
he had a chance to hear it."

Cosmic Lava
by Klaus K
"The old black musicians would be proud... So, if you dig
the good old blues you just can't go wrong with this album!!!"

Chaos Realm
by Ray Dorsey
"Da’ blooze is in this boy’s soul & it comes pouring out his
fingers in the sweet-yet-howling acoustic work...”

Blues Revue
by Tom Hyslop
"A collection of prewar-style blues played with sensitive
expertise and sung with conviction."

Scroll down for full articles

Vintage Guitar Magazine
Kelly Carmichael
Old Stock - Dogstreet Records

Solo releases by musicians in established bands too often come off as practically useless. Do we really need retreads, basically, of what’s been done in the past? Solo albums work best when offering fresh insight or serving as a platform for experimentation and musical discovery.

That’s exactly what Internal Void guitarist Kelly Carmichael has accomplished with his winning debut solo CD, Old Stock. Underground heavy rock/metal fans have admired Carmichael’s punishing Iommi-like riffs and blistering leads with Maryland’s Internal Void for 15 years. With Old Stock, he turns off the amps and unplugs the electrics for acoustic finger picking and resonator slide work on covers of dusty spirituals and prewar Delta- and country-blues numbers.

What results is a candid glimpse into the deeper influences of a fine guitarist. Aided expertly by guests Hugh Feely on harp and Alexander Mitchell on mandolin and fiddle, Carmichael puts his stamp on songs by the well known (Son House, Robert Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt) as well as Big Bill Broonzy and the Rev. Robert Wilkens. His greasy slide propels “Country Farm Blues” and the classic “I’ll Believe I’ll Dust My Broom,” while his joyous picking on “Avalon Blues” and “Hush Hush,” is pure energy in a Mason jar. Carmichael, who also handles lead vocals on all tracks, throws a great curveball with his wonderful take on “Mr. Hobo,” by ‘70s Scottish hard rockers Stray, which features backup vocals by Carmichael’s wife, Maria, and newly recorded bass by original Stray member Gary Giles.

Down to its honest core, the 10-track Old Stock is barefoot, front-porch, sipping-sweet-tea-or-something-stronger music at its most enjoyable, the kind of roots-righteous effort that Roy Bookbinder might add to his year-end “Best Of” list if he had a chance to hear it. The CD is slated to hit stores in May, and is currently available through Carmichael’s website at www.kellycarmichael.com

Ken Johnson

OLD STOCK CD '05 (Dogstreet, US)
by Ray Dorsey, Chaos Realm

To see what I think of KELLY CARMICHAEL, nobody's gotta look any further than my 2004 Top 10. The latest albums by Internal Void & the recent Pentagram incarnation both feature heavy doses of KELLY's plundering Gibson doom chords and searing Hendrixian leads. Still, there¹s another side to the man's playing & it's exemplified no better than on this new solo release. Da' blooze is in this boy's soul & it comes pouring out his fingers in the sweet-yet-howling acoustic work on glorious takes on Robert L. Johnson's "Dust My Broom" & "Walkin' Blues," among other stalwart classics. Aside from that, CARMICHAEL's voice is a strong, throaty one throughout. Hear why this guy is an all-round and true guitar player personified.

OLD STOCK CD '05 (Dogstreet, US)
by Tom Hyslop, Blues Revue (issue #95)

Hard rock guitarist Kelly Carmichael (of Pentagram and Internal Void)
switches gears on his first acoustic release, Old Stock (Dogstreet 002), a collection of prewar-style blues played with sensitive expertise and sung with conviction. There's nothing essential or surprising here ‹ a pair of songs from Robert Johnson, two from Mississippi John Hurt, one each from Big Bill Broonzy, Son House, and Rev. Robert Wilkins ‹ but Carmichael's disc makes for surprisingly pleasant listening.

OLD STOCK CD '05 (Dogstreet, US)
by Klaus Kleinowski, Cosmic Lava

It no secret that outstanding heavy players like Kelly Carmichael, Victor Griffin, Dale Flood or Scott 'Wino' Weinrich have been strongly influenced by Blues and Jazz. Just listen close to their works and you will agree with me. Kelly Carmichael, guitarist of Internal Void and Pentagram, is the first one who's paying tribute to his roots with his first solo album, entitled "Old Stock". It's obviously that this man is a great fan of the good old Blues, and he started his label Dogstreet Records to have a solid independant base to release his solo albums. First off, I'm very glad that Kelly had sent me a cd-r copy of "Old Stock", and it was a honour for me to receive it. Not only because of the fact that I'm a huge fan of Internal Void, but also due to my personal fondness for traditional Blues. When I found his package in my mailbox, I immediately opened it and put the disc in my player. Well, and what can I say - I'm not disappointed for a second! Kelly Carmichael had chosen ten old traditional blues cuts that are reaching from delta blues to folk blues to ragtime to spirituals. Of course, here are some well-known standards to find like "Dust My Broom", "Walking Blues" or "Evil Hearted Me" just to name a few. At first, let me say that he's not only a significant guitarplayer, but a very talented singer too. I was positively surprised about his soulful expressive vocals, who adds a very own note to the songs. Another great thing here is his authentic playing. In the tradition of the legendary black blues men, he only plays acoustic guitar and dobro with additional use of a bottleneck (what else!). Sometimes
female background vocals as in "Mr. Hobo", "While I was in Heaven Sitting" or the gorgeous cut "Beulah Land" (with violin!) makes the music more emotional and intense. I can't say how much I love this song. Apart of a violin other featured instruments are a mouth harp as in "Hush", "Walking Blues" or in the groovy "Shame On Me". His interpretations of classics like the above mentioned "Dust My Broom" are also very tasteful arranged and the listener can feel that Kelly Carmchael had put his heart and soul into the recordings. "Old Stock" is an excellent blues album and more than just a simple repetition of the 12-bar standards. The old black musicians would be proud and I hope he keeps this up. So, if you dig the good old blues you
just can't go wrong with this album!!!