The disruption in the music business caused by the digital age has worked out well for those with a late calling such as 53-year-old David Corley.
In the past he would have struggled to get a record deal, but crowdfunding has afforded new opportunities.
The Ohio-born singer-songwriter makes the best of the available light to deliver a warm, engrossing collection of retro country-soul mapped onto the story of his colourful life.
There are nods to Van Morrison, the Stones, Dylan and Lou Reed, but Corley carries the album with his honesty and flair.
Producer Hugh Christopher Brown lays down a sympathetic, if sometimes cluttered, bed of wheezy Hammond, chunky guitar and a muscular rhythm section over which Corley’s dirty, lived-in growl is softened by the voices of Kate Fenner and Sarah McDermott.
Check him out on his forthcoming short Irish tour.