Johnny Chirnside is a singer/songwriter from Saundersfoot and Nashville is his second full album release.

It has been a long time in the making at Johnny’s home studio and the result is ten beautifully crafted country inflected soft-rock songs.

They tackle a variety of topics, from the opening title track 'Nashville' an exuberant, joyful romp of a song that deals with a motorcycle road trip in the USA, to the album’s closer 'Soldiers Of The Royal Welch Fusiliers', a moving song about the Welsh soldiers who lost their lives in Mametz Wood during the Battle of the Somme in 1916, written after Johnny visited the wood with his father.

In fact the whole album is dedicated to those who have inspired him to write the songs.

Johnny is a talented chap – he has written, produced, recorded and mixed all of the songs and also played most of the instruments himself , including guitar, harmonica, keyboards, bass, and saxophone.

He calls on contributions from fellow musicians on some of the songs. Two of my favourite tunes are enhanced by them – 'A Dog’s Tale', a song about the loss of pets, on which Holly Robinson (former Western Telegraph editor and now a member of Johnny’s gigging band West Bound) plays tin whistle, and the slightly tongue in cheek 'Just You And Me?' which features the tight, snappy guitar work of James Oliver (of Glas).

Of course, this is very much Johnny’s album, so its not surprising that the highlights are Johnny’s strong, warm, emotional vocals, which deliver his thoughtful lyrics with feeling, a feeling that reflects both the sparkle, the light, the love of this one life we have to live, as well as its darker side, the undertow of loss, heartache, and illness, all held together with a delicious melodic sensibility.

Does this critic cad have any negative observations? Just one. Get a new hat Johnny!

Hard copies of the CD are available at Johnny’s gigs and also from Tojaz, The Strand, Saundersfoot. Those of you happy to stream and download, go to johnnychirnside.bandcamp.com

BB Skone