Makers

iTunes Review

Don’t call Rocky Votolato a “sensitive” singer/songwriter. A more fit tag for the former Waxwing vocalist/guitarist is “observant,” a quality he displays throughout his fourth solo release, Makers. This 2007 album seems draped in a foggy patina of road-weary melancholy and urban bohemian blues. Votolato mixes his watercolor-like lyrics with fatalistic philosophy and downbeat humor, recalling the music of Paul Simon’s introspective early years. Subdued yet incisive acoustic guitar work (accented at times by harmonica, fiddle and pedal steel guitar) lends a scruffy country-rock feel to “Portland Is Leaving,” “Uppers Aren’t Necessary,” “Makers,” and similar tunes. It’s easy to imagine Rocky busking on a rainy street corner for spare change on feisty, slightly nervous numbers like “Streetlights” and “The Night’s Disguise.” Though he typically favors compact song forms, he digs into an extended narrative on the dark, Celtic-inflected “Where We Left Off.” Most of all, he shows a knack for emotionally subtle travelogues, as evidenced by “Tennessee Train Tracks” and the haunting “White Daisy Passing.”