So sometimes it does only take a few bars of the first song of an album to know that you’re going to like the album. Such was the case this week, when after the opening guitar intro followed by pedal steel on Brad Boyer‘s album I Sat Down and Wrote You a Song I was hooked. I really am enjoying this Houston based singer-songwriter. According to his website Boyer has honed his craft in”beer joints, ice houses, and road side honky-tonks as well as the finer listening rooms of the big city” and he’s done a good job and I’m not the only one who’s been listening to this self produced release! The album is number 13 on the Euro Americana Chart, number 48 on the Roots Music Report, number 18 on the FAR Chart!! From top to bottom this is an enjoyable album Boyer’s vocals are great (he reminds me a little of Max Stalling) and his songwriting – well the folks at Kerrville Folk Festival can tell you about that because he was one of the 32 finalists (out of 800 entries) in the 2010 Grassy Hill, New Folk Competition. Folks who have had there careers boasted by participation in this competition include: Lyle Lovett, Steve Earle, Nanci Griffith and Shawn Colvin to name a few.
So now back to the album. The album full of songs about life in and out of those bars where Boyer’s honed his craft! Some appear to be autobiographical like ” Tonight I’m Gonna Lose” while others are about the people he’s meet like “The Tele Picker” about an “old lonesome cowboy looking for his next rodeo” With a great chorus:
“he’s just an old tele picker,
doing what the good pickers do,
drinking a cold one, learning from old ones,
singing the working man blues”
Then there’s “Every Afternoon” about an ex-sailor his ramblings and his drinking……..
“all in all we’re just the same,
we just have our different names,
we may sail on different seas
you can drink you beer with me, every afternoon.”
There are a few songs not about bars or drinking like “West Texas Wind” a poignant song about death and his belief that when you die you’re carried away by that “West Texas Wind” and “New Strings (On an Old Guitar)” about his grandpa – oops – that does mention drinking. Well, the last song “For Your Love”, is a touching closing love song!
All in all, it’s a great Americana album, so check it out at the usual places Myspace, Facebook or right here!
