Gary Louris - Vagabonds (2008)

In the current and penultimate issue of No Depression magazine, Gary Louris talks about the '70s, rootsy Laurel Canyon vibe of his new solo CD Vagabonds. "...for my voice and what I do, 1970 was a good year," Louris says. That's putting it mildly. Vagabonds seems to have come straight to us from some classic-rock parallel universe; it's best songs wouldn't sound out of place on the soundtrack of some period movie like Easy Rider or Five Easy Pieces.

I fell for Louris's music when I heard the Jayhawks' Hollywood Town Hall back in 1992. That album seemed to position them as the next great essential American rock act, in the footsteps of The Band, Neil Young, and others. The followup, Tomorrow the Green Grass, had its moments but always seemed to be trying a little too hard to be commercial. I lost touch with the band after that, though I do recall buying one of the Jayhawks' Mark Olson-less albums. But with Vagabonds and Olson's recent Salvation Blues, my Jayhawaks-fever is reborn. The best news contained in that same No Depression article is that Louris and Olson have recorded an album together that's set for release later this year.

Down to business: Vagabonds kicks off with "True Blue," a mellow statement of artistic purpose:

Strip it down to what you can believe in/Pass it on, what is right and true blue

It's worth taking a moment to mention the supporting cast, which comes courtesy of producer Chris Robinson. Robinson is of course better known as the singer for the Black Crowes; the musicians backing Louris here share the same talent for an unforced retro sound as the Crowes at their best. Adam MacDougal's keyboards and the pedal steel of Josh Grange in particular are all over Vagabonds.

"Omaha Nights" is the real bid for a hit on Vagabonds, it's impossible to listen without picturing Peter Fonda having life-changing revelations. Louris's guitar drives this mid tempo ballad:

All the days are numbered/Are they slipping through my fingers/Am I singing melodies all meant for other singers/Occupying spaces that were clearly meant for others/Am I growing old in the arms of the wrong lovers

The chorus of backup singers billed as the "Laurel Canyon Family Choir" is most prominent on this track and includes Robinson, Susanna Hoffs, and Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley. The acoustic & pedal steel drenched "To Die A Happy Man" ends with a bit of gospel-style call and response from the Choir, and their harmonies support "She Only Calls Me On Sundays," a country song about a screwed-up love affair that wouldn't sound out of place on Harvest.

She only calls me on Sundays/When she's had her fill/Of red wine and cigarettes/And prescription pills

"We'll get by but we don't know how" is the chorus of "We'll Get By," which will send you running to your old Crosby, Stills, & Nash albums and smacks of the kind of uncertainty that runs through Louris's lyrics. There's a similar feel to "Black Grass" and even the tossed-off "I Wanna Get High." Has Gary Louris actually made an album about post-hippie disillusionment in 2008? I don't want to push the classic-rock thing too far, since anyone looking for a contemporary message in these songs could probably find one. But the triumph of Vagabonds is how it walks that line between familiarity and newness.

Title song "Vagabonds" is a bit too similar to "Omaha Nights." One of the album's strongest track is the austere, acoustic "D.C. Blues," a statement of concern and of hope in our society:

Now I'm off to Philadelphia/On the eve of what's to come/This old boy's got the D.C. Blues/They've got me on the run

Grange's pedal steel is especially lyrical here. The nervous "Meandering" closes the album with the line "Meandering lines to the morning," which works as a summation for a CD that seems to celebrate not getting things quite right. Gary Louris can't transport himself back to 1970, but that's OK. We need him here.

(all lyrics by Gary Louris)

Tift Merritt - Another Country (2008)

So, you're Tift Merritt. Tambourine, your second album for Lost Highway, has become a critical and commercial success and scored a Grammy nomination. Despite all the love you're getting, your record label drops you. What do you do? You go to Paris. Merritt's new CD Another Country was inspired in part by the singer's months abroad; the trip was designed as a break after time on the road, but turned into more extended downtime and creative rejuvenation. Merritt will never be mistaken for Edith Piaf, but nevertheless Another Country is quite a departure from the soul-driven Tambourine.

If I hadn't known that Paris was such a happy time for Merritt, I'd swear this was a breakup album. Many of the songs are laden with acoustic strumming and pedal steel, and have the wistful quality of an ending or remembering something or someone departed.

Then telling the truth got so hard, we were dancing in the backyard./Once I knew the end and the start, but now that's through.

-"Broken"

First single "Broken" might sound like a song about loss at first pass, but wait for it. This medium paced rocker is really about healing and a second chance.

Hand of kindness, come and gather me in like a rainstorm.

-"Broken"

"Another Country" the song is a ballad whose swelling keyboards are reminiscent of of Tambourine, but the song (which imagines love as "another country") is too specifically about a relationship that isn't working to have a place on that optimistic CD. Look for this one at a key moment on a One Tree Hill episode near you. One of my favorite tracks on Another Country is "Hopes Too High," which again puts acoustic guitar (and a harmonica solo) at the forefront. This one's definitely about lighting out for the territory and wouldn't have sounded out of place on a '70s Neil Young album.

If I got my hopes too high, this is no easy kind of life./But I see it in my mind's eye, touch me real as daytime./Can't keep from trying.

-"Hopes Too High"

"Morning Is My Destination" (there's that swelling organ again) feels half-finished, a song that wants to take off but never quite gets there. "Keep You Happy," with its burbling keyboards and spare lead guitar line, is well performed but a faster song would have worked better here since the previous song was locked in midtempo - we're also back to bungled relationships lyrically.

Why do we pretend there is something to hold onto?/
See how my world fell in, I was trying to hold you, I was just trying to/ hold you.

-"Keep You Happy"

But Merritt has a plan. "I Know What I'm Looking For Now" is a piano-laced song about just that, finding your footing (in another country?) and a sense of empowerment. "Tell Me Something True" (the song that would have sounded most at home on Tambourine) is upbeat stomp driven by a bouncy horn section. The title of "My Heart is Free" would seem to promise more of the Up with Tift kick we've been on for the last two tracks, but look at the lyrics. This rocker seems to be written from the point of view of a young soldier traumatized by battle.

Another Country closes with "Tender Branch," a spiritually inclined ballad about the need for an emotional rock in difficult times, and the sung-in-French "Mille Tendresses" (A Thousand Tendernesses). This is the most out-of-character track on the CD, but proves that Merritt is more than up to attempting another genre of music.

Another Country is closer sonically to Merritt's 2002 Bramble Rose. Those hoping for another Tambourine may initially be disappointed, but the quieter Another Country hangs together beautifully (my song-by-song take notwithstanding) and is a unified work by a maturing artist whose future holds great promise.

(All lyrics by Tift Merritt)

First Principles

Hello and welcome. This is the second blog I've tried to start under this title, which is taken from a song by the Avett Brothers. The first was an ill-advised effort to write a sort of all-in-one-gulp blog which lasted until a commenter at Mostly Movies pointed out that I had the word "Mostly" in my title and thus had given myself license to write about anything I wanted.

We'll have a narrower focus here. Reading about the impending demise of No Depression magazine made me want to do something in my own small way to keep alive some discussion about "alt-country" music on the web. Since 2008 has already been a rich year and I've been trying to find a way to write about music at greater length, I've decided to publish my album reviews here. This won't be an everyday blog but will rather ebb and flow as different artists catch my attention. Comments, as always, are welcome.