During the pandemic, usually busy on-the-road warriors had time to take stock of various things that didn't always include where the next gig was going to come from. One item on the downtime agenda was to work on new material; another was to look back at music and artists that influenced them and if not necessarily pay tribute then at least recognise how crucial they were to you. Another still was to get out from under the duvet and just pick up a guitar again, whatever way that worked for you. Which brings us to Monaghan's Ryan Sheridan, who has gone the whole hog and gathered together 11 songs by US songwriters, most of which could be filed under the Americana genre.

Lateral approach

The album is appropriately named and what marks out Sheridan's lateral approach is that the artists and songs aren't at all usual suspects, and are mostly contemporary (the one exception is 1969's Rock Salt and Nails, by Bruce "Utah" Phillips). Gathered in the mix, and delivered with a combination of two-fingered rowdiness and single-minded pathos, are Chris Stapleton's Parachute, John Hiatt's Have a Little Faith In Me, Nathaniel Rateliff's You Worry Me, Simon Felice's Molly O! and The Black Keys' Get Yourself Together. As an exercise in getting back in the game, the album is pitched successfully between let's get rocked and let the good times roll. ryansheridanmusic.com