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GREG BROWN AND FRIENDS
Solid Heart: The In Harmony Benefit Concert (In Harmony)
Reviewed by Eric Steiner
Troubadour Greg Brown has kept the tradition of the American singer-songwriter alive through more than 18 records, as well as a record label, Red House Records, which supports roots and Americana artists like Lucy Kaplansky and Guy Davis. Greg's own labor of love is his support for an Oregon-based foster care charity called In Harmony and this benefit disc will help some childrens' dreams come true. Solid Heart was recorded at the Majestic Theatre in Corvallis, Oregon and live from the Prairie Home Companion. In Harmony, On Behalf of Our Nation's Children, is a non-profit agency whose dreams include an intergenerational neighborhood where traumatized children have the hope and opportunity of a childhood. There's a lot going on all over the world that captures our attention and our charity, but services for abandoned, neglected and abused children surely reaches the top of my gift lists at tax time and at Christmas. I could go on about how Jose Flores' poem moved me (and Brown's adaptation of this 11-year old's words into a song), but it's safe to say that Solid Heart features some of the most thoughtful and heartfelt folk music that I've heard in quite a while. Listen to Kate MacKenzie's "A Grown Woman," Brown's "I Must Be in Oregon," Dave Carter's "Down Tread on Me," or the heartfelt version of Mississippi Fred McDowells's "You Got To Move," and you'll hear the heart of Americana. Listen to the words of Jose Flores, and you'll feel the challenge, pain, and dreams of a child hoping to see his sisters and family again: "I hope my brothers and sisters still love me/I am a good brother and I have a solid heart." A solid Americana record with a message of hope.
Track List:
Build A Little Village * Solid Heart * I Must Be In Oregon * If You Don't Get It At Home * Winter Rain * Further In * Lullabye * She Moved Through the Fair * If I Had Known * Vivid * Pound It On Down * This Blue * A Grown Woman * Don't Tread On Me * When I Go * You Got To Move * Ring Around the Moon
© 2002 - Eric Steiner