Most of the members of US Rails were once members of Philadelphia's 4 Way Street group. In the meantime they have spread across America and Europe, but they meet regularly as a group of singer / songwriters who complement each other's songs. Kind of like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; their first album, which they recorded, is France, therefore reminiscent of Deja Vu. As with CSN & Y, each
… member has their own specialty in the songwriting field. Ben Arnold writes traditional American songs in the spirit of Randy Newman, while Tom Gillam's compositions hark back to the erratic shuffles of Little Feat. Scott Bricklin in turn is the rocker of the company and thus even reminds a bit of David Crosby. The music of US Rails is therefore not original, but the music is played with a lot of love and mutual pleasure, resulting in an atmospheric record full of American roots music, reviving the early seventies. (MR)more
