This Michigan songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has done a lot in little time. He drummed with The Detroit Cobras and King Tuff, backed Rodriguez, reluctantly played guitar and wrote with Kid Rock and The Go, and fronted popular Detroit combos—all while tussling with his own addictions. Then he quit everything and in early 2012 wrote and recorded this solo debut: a double-album stunner so rich with restraint and earned wisdom that there isn’t a song here that Steve Earle or Chris Robinson wouldn’t have been ecstatic to write. Tudrick distills the essence of classic Laurel Canyon—John Phillips, Graham Nash, Neil Young, and The Band’s brown album—into spine-tinglers that tell of a life filled with the small redemptions that could’ve only been written after one overcomes a life-threatening war with himself. Tudrick handles the instrumentation here too, with occasional low-key musical support from Detroit stars such as Patti Smith’s guitarist son, Jackson. The songs ache (“Lightening Lights the Way,” "Bird That Flew”), lift (“Angel’s Pass”), rock (“Can’t Be Saved”), mellow out (“Moonshine”), and drone (“Colorblind”). One of 2012’s best.