STEPHAN SMITH
Now's The Time (Rounder)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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Now's the time-warp. That's the feeling I got on my first listen to Stephan Smith's new Rounder release, on which Smith seems to be channeling Bob Dylan ca. '62. With a Dylanesque wheeze and some eerily familiar guitar and harmonica licks, Stephan Smith offers up 14 tracks that veer toward the topical, even when he's trying to get personal. He's not the "next Dylan," he's one of the previous Dylans. One of the better ones. And he's damn good at it.

The only way to make an act like this work is to write real good songs, and a real good topical song is one of the hardest things to write. Smith has a knack for it. I don't know that he's likely to be found at the forefront of a popular wave of renewed enthusiasm for this kind of music, but there's always been an audience out there for it among folkies and politicos, and there aren't many on the scene that are able to provide more satisfaction for that audience.

Track List: Now's The Time * It's Just Gonna Take Everyone * West Kentucky * Railroad Boy * All Together Now * The Chickadee Boom * I Need To Know * Another Man Down * Ballad Of Abner Louima * Oh Death * The Media Mogul * Hopelessly And Endlessly In Love * Movin' Down The Line * Peace On Earth

© 1999 - Shaun Dale