JD Kucharik – Hurd Road Rhythm Section

JD Kucharik – Hurd Road Rhythm Section – EP Review

Alrighty…let’s see what we’ve got here.

First impressions of the EP, just looking at it…I’m pretty confident these young men will be able to churn out something we’ll be happy to listen to.  Look at the collective wisdom these dudes gotta be bringing to their music!  They’re clearly veterans of the scene; I think it’s pretty safe to say that JD Kucharik & his cohorts will have no problem finding their way around their instruments at this point in their careers.  We’ve got a five piece band and a four song lineup to check out here, so let’s push play & see what’s up.

As far as how things sound go, it’s a bit of a mixed reaction to start.  If we’re talkin’ about ideas…if we’re talkin’ about depth and dimension…if we’re talkin’ about reasons to listen – JD Kucharik gives you plenty of all these things right from the get go.  So that’s obviously positive.  Heck, I might even go as far as to say that the opening track, “Laughed At Your Heartache” could very well be the best song of the bunch if it can just get a little bit of extra lovin’ than it currently has now in its production.  Always hard to tell with compression algorithms and such for listening to music online, but if you’re listening to these four songs in a row like I have been for the past month or so, “Laughed At Your Heartache” seems to be the only track mired in a few noticeable technical issues.  Which of course, is a bit of a bummer when you’re talkin’ about what might even be your favorite cut of the set, you know what I mean?  I would have loved for this song to have had the same level of clarity that exists with the other tracks by comparison, but I’m also highly realistic when it comes to what I’m listening to on this side of the screen.  Whether it’s a matter of everyone having different access to different tiers of gear or studio time, or doing things the DIY route with production tools built for home use, or just a rogue artist with a field recording, I’ve heard it all at some point along the way.  What matters to me more than anything else are the ideas at the core of it all…if you’ve got those, like JD & his crew prove they do on “Laughed At Your Heartache,” then you can always remix things as necessary, or even jump back into the recording booth to give something another shot and it’ll be worth your time to do so.  Without strong ideas at the core, that’d be a pointless mission…but in a case like this, “Laughed At Your Heartache” is completely worth saving.  Really dig the sound of JD’s vocals, I think the instrumentation in the solo is a huge highlight, and the songwriting itself is absolutely sound – there’s a hybrid versatility here that works brilliantly in this song to give it this well-rounded atmosphere that is loaded with crossover potential.  I have tried and tried to pinpoint what the issue in the mix is…it could be that everything en masse is overcooked a little and just a bit north of the red line on the ol’ studio boards, but it could also be a guitar filter that’s dominating the sound more than it should be too…I’m not 100% sure.  What I am sure about, is that once again, it’s only the first track that seems to have this issue, so whatever is being done differently here, is worth examining further under the microscope.  With the clarity it should have, “Laughed At Your Heartache” would quite likely be a track we’d easily agree on universally, because it’s got all the right ingredients.

“Wisdom Momma Said” is much closer to where Kucharik & Co. would want to get their sound to.  I’m not here to tell you it doesn’t have any room to sparkle & shine more than it currently stands – it could – but overall, I’m pleased with the results and feel like they should be too.  Armed with a whole lotta extra length to bring this track to the seven minute mark, “Wisdom Momma Said” is a solid groove rooted in the Blues, but with a ton of vividly colorful musicianship that adds more into the experience for ya.  Think of something that’s closer to the lines of something smooth you’d find in the Santana catalog from years ago, JD and his band take you on a verifiable trip with “Wisdom Momma Said,” and I’m confident that listeners will really dig what they find here.  Whether it’s the drums & percussion of Robert Payne, the wonderfully BURLY vocals of Kucharik in action, the highly reliable bass lines of Larry Youngblood, or the personality that the guitars from Pete Wagula & Paul Fosgreen bring to it – not to mention JD’s role in filling in the atmosphere with his keyboards as well – I mean…like I told you at the start, they’re clearly a capable band and they confirm that with the performance they put into this second cut from Hurd Road Rhythm Section.  That main vocal hook in the chorus is a massive draw…I love how it brightens up as JD starts to sing it, then finishes off with a lower-key approach that’s nothing but silky smooth…”Wisdom Momma Said” feels like one of those moments in music you can get happily lost within.  Like, you’re already in-store for adventure with the song being seven minutes long to begin with, but they use their time so wisely that if you loop this one on repeat, you’ll truly never get bored.  There’s just so much undeniable groove here.  Every time “Wisdom Momma Said” came back on in rotation as I listened to Hurd Road Rhythm Section, I was impressed by how much you FEEL this song.  It would get to the point where I had a hard time moving on from it – it’s really that irresistible to listen to.

These dudes jam, and I feel like the more you listen to’em do it, the more you’re likely to become a fan of JD Kucharik’s tunes.  I maintain there’s still work to be done in the production for additional clarity, but I still feel like it’s only the first track that seems to really be hindered in that regard.  The rest all have more than enough of what you need, and Kucharik’s crew continues to prove they’ve got the chops to make the magic happen for ya.  “So It Goes” has that like…late 70s/early 80s kind of Progressive thread to its sound…you know, somewhere in the realm of Pink Floyd & Genesis, that kind of vibe…but they continue to do their own thing without ending up sounding too much like anyone else at all, and I dig that.  My old man the keyboard player and I chuckle about this stuff all the time – in modern day music, basically anything with a keyboard now gets lumped in along with the whole Progressive genre, and it’s of course a much more nuanced categorization than that if you’re looking to pinpoint things accurately.  Most of what JD Kucharik and his band create is pretty straightforward Rock with a Blues twist on the sound…but yeah, anytime you’ve got keyboards in the mix these days, the kids are bound to tag you with a Progressive label.  It still has some relevance here in the throwback vibes of “So It Goes” I reckon, but no song needs to be put in just one box either.  Like I’ve been tellin’ ya, Hurd Road Rhythm Section is wisely comprised of crossover sound that’s cleverly designed and impressively executed.  When it comes to the band itself, they’re all highly skilled players that always bring significant quality to their individual instrumentation, and they play like they’re all on the same page when it comes right down to it, which matters.  There’s a distinct unity in the way they’re playing together, and that alone is enticing to listen to.  Just so happens that when they decide to flash their stylistic side like they do on “So It Goes,” it makes things even more interesting.  All said and done though, it’s because they’re as confident in their own skills and musicianship as individual players, that the sum total of their efforts sounds even better.

Right from the start, I’ve told ya that it’s the ideas that matter.  I dig the direction of JD Kucharik’s sound, and I think the tremendous level of consistency in the material should be outright applauded – the songs on Hurd Road Rhythm Section all work cohesively & they represent the band playing in a very favorable way.  Like, if you’re one of those people out there looking for something substantial for your ears to grab onto, JD Kucharik’s tunes are ready and able to supply.  Wrapping up this lineup of songs with “What Was I Thinkin” was really about as good of a choice as any of the others would have been too – that’s the impressive level of consistency you’ll find at the core of the material running through this EP.  It sounds genuinely relevant if you ask me, which isn’t always the easiest thing to do when working in the framework of what most people would consider to be a throwback or old-school style of sound.  I’ll fully concede that it’s not the vibe you usually find out there on the radio right now, but if you turned the dial back to the classics, you’d find JD Kucharik’s music fitting right in.  There’s a lot of folks out there truly craving something new that sounds like something old they remember & still love to this very day, and in that respect, Kucharik & Co. have got a lot of space in the scene to occupy with their prospective audience.  “What Was I Thinkin” shines a light on the tight way this band plays together and the grooves they get so happily locked into.  I love hearing the sound of a band that’s into what they do, because any time that’s the case, you’re more than likely going to find it was real easy to pull the listeners onboard to support ya.  We all want to hear music being made by musicians that are excited to do what they do and bringing their A-game to it, and I feel like Hurd Road Rhythm Section really shows us that from start to finish.  They’ve got a good thing goin’ on here…it’s really tough to choose any single one of these songs in the set over the others as your favorite.  That’s A-OK with me, I like those kinds of dilemmas.  All I want from JD Kucharik and his band is to keep on keepin’ on from here – they know what they’re doin.’

Find out more about JD Kucharik from his official website at:  https://jdkucharik.yourwebsitespace.com

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