Everyone Brings Something To The Table
by
everbody's got one
Everyone Brings Something To The Table
You’re having a July 4th cookout. Ribs. Chicken. Burgers. Something from the Boca or Morningstar collection for us token vegetarians (in the south, we walk a lonely road sometimes). Everyone has to bring a dish. You hate planning and structure so you leave it up to the guests. It might work out and you get the variety you need. You might wind up with 12 Jell-O, Cool Whip, Strawberry/Blueberry flag desserts. The doorbell rings. It’s Jay Farrar with some sort of required side dish. Again the doorbell. Lucinda Williams with a bottle of tequila. Half of it is gone. Against your protests, she plants a last night’s puke and cigarette flavored kiss on you and sachets past. You look through the sliding glass doors to the patio. WTF? How the hell did Maria McKee from Lone Justice sneak in? Is she worthy? Ah well, she looks deceptively hot in cowboy boots and the depression era, thrift shop cotton dress and the 80’s college familiarity helps you recover from the Lucinda induced trauma. Steve Earle shows up. Nothing chemical. Just something starchy, beefy, caloric and good. They’re pillaging your CD collection (you’re still kind of old school that way) and “Let It Bleed” is put on. It is complete.
Ok, so I’m being a bit verbose. But how the hell else can you describe Stovall’s debut, “True Story”? There’re six members (that gets you nearly halfway to Rolling Thunder Revue levels) of this Atlanta based Americana outfit. Three of them wrote the material for the record (yes, it was recorded, therefore it’s a record). That’s 50% of the organization contributing to the creative output. Powerful in anyone’s book. All wrapped up in straightforward, unadorned production and tight, disciplined performance execution. Some of the tracks were captured live which, again, testifies to Stovall’s ability to pull it off. It also doesn’t hurt that the songwriters, Hannibal Heredia, Kevin Elrod and Mike Goldman are multi-instrumentalists as well. This shines through noticeably in the arrangements.
If you look at the glass as half empty, you might say that the whole Americana thing has jumped the shark. Wilco has gone suburban, post yuppie jam band (I saw them last year and, honestly, the highlight was getting to see John Doe open and hanging with Sam Baylor of Will and The Bushmen fame). Steve Earle is officially bald. Lucinda Williams got married and Will Kimbrough has co-written songs with Jimmy Buffet. Luckily, Stovall’s “True Story” brings you back to half full. It’s all there. Heredia’s contributions take you on a trip filled with sounds that remind you of the greatness of Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and Joe Strummer with a library of beautiful stories concerning, love, loss, and white trash transportation. “Empty Bottle” opens it up with Keefesque tones and Britpop (yes, it works marvelously) turnarounds. My personal favorite is “Champagne” which should’ve been placed a little earlier in the track list ‘cause its good. No, great. Kevin Elrod brings Texas shuffle to the mix with “Hurtin’ Kind” and the quiet, achingly beautiful “Blue Skies”. Mike Goldman receives the George Harrison award for making the most of your two tracks with “Stay Up Late” and the strong closer “Stray Dog”. Imagine if Son Volt did songs you could sing along to. You get the idea. Of course, the real bonus Stovall includes is Angela Fox’s authentic alto that would make most alt country divas hang it up and go back to their jobs at Starbucks if the location they worked at is still open. I’d mention the rhythm section, but, if you mention the rhythm section that typically means they were probably lousy. Therefore, a good rhythm section should always remain unappreciated.
All total, “True Story” is a good one right out of the gate. Gotta go. Looks like Faith Hill and Tim McGraw got lost on their way to Wal Mart and wound up at the cook out. Lucinda’s staggering towards them. It’s gonna get ugly.
