Rodney Crowell – Tarpaper Sky (New West) – Country music proponents have always prided the genre as being one that’s been primarily driven by songs that tell a story. With Rodney Crowell, you have an old hand quite adept at doing that on a regular basis, even finding a bit of commercial success dating back to the gold record he earned for 1988’s Diamonds & Dirt. And while he’s somewhat become kryptonite to the Music Row poohbahs that call the shots at radio and television, Crowell’s songwriting has yielded chart success for the likes of Alan Jackson, Keith Urban, Lee Ann Womack and Tim McGraw in recent years. Following up last year’s wonderful Old Yellow Moon project that he released with longtime friend and former employer Emmylou Harris comes Crowell’s fourteenth studio album. Clearly, the man hasn’t lost a step as he sings of heartbreak (a forlorn “God I’m Missing You”), cherished relatives (the bittersweet “Grandma Loved That Old Man”) and flat out gratitude for drawing breath (a loping Oh What a Beautiful World” complete with winsome harp intro.). Throughout, Crowell paints stories with his lyrics that run the gamut from tales of the toxic relationship driving the rockabilly shuffle “Frankie Please” (“You tore through my life like a tornado looking for a trailer park/And your white trash mishmash short of cash culture clash hit the mark”) to going back to the familiar surroundings at the heart of the mid-tempo “The Long Journey Home” (“An eagle flies at sunrise/’Cross an aspen grove and back/And the moonlight brings a blue coyote choir”). And while the amount of pedal steel and fiddle is minimal on these songs compared to the artificially pumped up levels found on most of what passes for country music on radio these days, Crowell continues to operate at a high level well below the radar of what most contemporary country music fans are being spoon-fed on the airwaves.
Rodney Crowell-Tarpaper Sky
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Pocket
WhatsApp
- Tags: Featured
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Pocket
WhatsApp
Never miss any important news. Subscribe to our newsletter.
Dave Gil de Rubio
In addition to being editor of theNassau Observer, Dave Gil de Rubio is a regular contributor to Long Island Weekly, specializing in music and sports features. He has won several awards for writing from Press Club of Long Island (PCLI), New York Press Association (NYPA) and Fair Media Council (FMC).
Author Posts Related News
Oyster Bay: A Golden Gem
April 24, 2024
The Pioneering Primatologist
April 24, 2024
Chuck Scarborough: A Beacon of Journalistic Longevity
April 19, 2024
Adam Ant To Stand And Deliver With New Tour
April 5, 2024
World-Famous Broadway Composer Recognized On Long Island
March 29, 2024
Kombucha: Unlock The Power Of Probiotics
March 28, 2024
I Should Have Taken More Pictures
March 27, 2024
Pan Am: The World’s Most Experienced Airline
March 26, 2024
Never miss any important news. Subscribe to our newsletter.
Recent News
Oyster Bay: A Golden Gem
April 24, 2024
The Pioneering Primatologist
April 24, 2024
Chuck Scarborough: A Beacon of Journalistic Longevity
April 19, 2024