ALAN RHODY
Journey (Ashwood Recordings)
Reviewed by Eric Steiner

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Regular readers of Cosmik Debris know that I'm often fond of and impressed with singer-songwriters who can help me learn something new, particularly those who can write as well as they can play. I'm thinking of singer-songwriters like James McMurtry, Bill Mallonee, Greg Brown, Kathleen Edwards, or Bonnie Koloc. Well, with Journey, I'm adding Alan Rhody to that list. "The Wind In Her Hair" chokes me up each time I hear it, because it's the first song I'll play for my wife on our 20th wedding anniversary later this year. It tells the story of "two old time lovers on a seabank somewhere," a couple growing older together, from their early courtship, childraising, and the ups and downs of chasing jobs and dreams. While our nest won't be empty for a few years, "The Wind In Her Hair" is a great mid-life love song and one that I hope will begin another 20 years with my wife Vickie. John Prine joins Alan on "That's Who I'd Be," and the duet with Irish folksinger Maura O'Connell on "Path of the Moon" complements Alan's style nicely. In addition to releasing six solo CDs, Alan has penned top-20 and hit songs covered by a constellation of Music City artists, including Suzy Bogguss, T.G. Shephard, Tanya Tucker, Hoyt Axton, Lorrie Morgan, and Billy "Crash" Craddock. While Journey contains a baker's dozen from one of my new favorite troubadours, I enjoy "Charlene and the Quarterback" for its irony and humor, and for the way Alan tells the surprising twists and turns of an evening between a traveling salesman and a lounge singer, long after the glory days of the quarterback's high school football have faded from memory. Take Alan Rhody's Journey - he's a true American troubadour, and he's put his experience as a 25-year career as a minstrel to work on this CD.

Track List:

Real Big Country * The Wind in Her Hair * That's Who I'd Be * 1952 Vincent Black Lightning * Stronger Too * Path of the Moon * Drifter's Wind * I Love You Anyway Uncle John * Merci Beaucoup * Charlene and the Quarterback * Trainwreck of Emotion * Goodbye Kiss * Journey

[Pick this up at CDBaby.]

© 2004 - Eric Steiner