'East Side Confessions' is the new album from songwriter and lap steel guitar player KB Bayley. It follows 2020’s 'Little Thunderstorms' and 2022’s 'Flatlands', both of which received critical acclaim and widespread airplay.
Opening the album, ‘East Side Confessions’ finds personal inspiration in a quote from Bayley’s Father. Bayley’s warm vocal is underpinned by his exceptional, yet subtle guitar work on a track that instantly grabs the attention of the listener through vivid lyrics and sets them up for a journey through an album that is full of thoughtful exquisite songs.
An early and unexpected highlight is the imaginative cover of ‘Everybody’s Got to Learn Sometime’. Previously a hit for pop/electronica band, The Korgis, Bayley provides a wonderful reinterpretation of the song that is hauntingly beautiful.
Bayley’s lap steel guitar playing remains at the heart of the album, either on his Tom Buchanan Weissenborn or his square neck dobro from Colorado. While the man himself tends to underplay his musical skills, he has the unique ability of making music that sounds honest and authentic, and never overplayed.
Lyrically Bayley shines brightly on songs such as ‘The Light Through the Trees’ and ‘Don’t Let the Rain Fall on My Face’, both being fine examples of the way his song crafting draws in the listener and takes them on a journey as the songs unfold their tales.
‘White house Blues’ by bluegrass legend Charlie Poole and ‘That Kind of Lonely’ by Patty Griffin round out a formidable collection of songs and music that runs through folk, blues and Americana.
‘East Side Confessions’ is full of understated brilliance.