True Grit

True Grit

Ken Will Morton turns down the volume on his excellent fifth album while taking the songwriting up a notch. These carefully crafted songs with thoughtful lyrics are a natural match for his raw delivery and gritty, soulful voice. The titles are telling — “Gamblin’ Man’s Blues,” “Hard Weathered Life,” “Cannot Win for Losing,” “Don’t Feel Bad for Crying.” They may not be good-time tunes, but they are intriguing and often beautiful. Many of them detail lives of quiet struggle and anonymous despair, and Morton does his characters justice. Backed by a solid band, they tear through this mix of twangy folk, roots rock (“Open Road,” the title track), and slower acoustic numbers with some bite (“Restless Heart,” “Breathe,” “Daylight”). True Grit is another well-paced, no-frills effort from a consistently good songwriter and storyteller.

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