Review Roundup: Danny Burns 'Promised Land', Jon Check 'I Am a Well'

Sometimes there just aren't enough days in the week to get to all of the new releases you'd like to feature. That's where these review roundups come in. This week, I'm reaching back to the last few weeks to feature some recent releases from Irish Americana artist Danny Burns and New York-bases country rocker Jon Check.

Danny Burns- Promised Land

Covers albums are, to steal a line from Forrest Gump, like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get. Sometimes they're uninspired straightforward covers of songs covered by a hundred other artists that bring nothing new to the table. Sometimes they're Promised Land by Danny Burns. The Irish singer's willingness to take chances is evident from the album's first song, a fiddle and mandolin-filled cover of Adele's “Someone Like You.” Elsewhere on the album, Burns takes on Oasis (“Some Might Say”), Guy Clark (“Magnolia Wind”), Sting (an album highlight “Fields of Gold”) and even an Irish standard, “Danny Boy.” With guest instrumentals and vocals from frequent collaborators Sam Bush and Tim O'Brien, as well as Burns' wife Aine, there's plenty to recommend here.

Jon Check- I Am a Well
It's been 17 years since Jon Check released his self-titled debut album to great acclaim. In that time, Check has seen a lot of changes in his life. He's relocated from Pittsburgh to Brooklyn. He's become a father. Like all of us, he's lived through a pandemic. And coming out of all of that is the EP I Am a Well. With a more traditional country-rock sound than his debut or than the works with his various bands, Check's sonorous voice swells above a mostly acoustic guitar-driven instrumental track powered by some of Check's best friends from both of his homes. Highlights on the album include the electrified “Tongue-tied” and “On With It,” a collaboration with his brother, folk and bluegrass musician Matthew Check.

Both albums are available now at most major download and streaming markets (and physical format in the case of Burns).