TIM EASTON
Special 20 (New West)
Reviewed by Eric Steiner

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New West Records has re-released Tim Easton's Special 20, originally released by Easton on his own Heathen Records in 1998. It's a cause for celebration, because these ten original songs that remind me of the great singer-songwriters adept with the pen as well as the guitar. Trouble is, I can't pidgeonhole this Ohio native's music, except to say that "All the Pretty Girls Leave Town" and "Sweet Violet" are as true examples of Americana-folk as you're liable to find. The set's amped-up opener, "Just Like Home," cries out for Neil Young and Crazy Horse or an electrified Bob Dylan, and I think that Tim Easton is well-worth that vaunted praise. He's opened for folks like The Flatlanders, John Hiatt and the Cowboy Junkies, and Special 20 has intrigued me enough to pick up his other two New West discs: last year's Break Your Mother's Heart and The Truth About Us. I wish I'd discovered Easton six years ago when the homemade Special 20 first came out.

Track List:

Just Like Home * Special 20 * Torture Comes to Mind * Troublesome Kind * All the Pretty Girls Leave Town * Everywhere is Somewhere * Help Me Find My Space Girl * Sweet Violet * Hey Rosine * Rewind

© 2004 - Eric Steiner