The CD is a diverse collection of alt-country, americana tunes that vary from slower stripped down ballads to uptempo full band rockers. More than any other CD I’ve heard recently, this one had me really focused in on the vocals. In an e-mail Joe mentioned that he really works on the vocals. Whether it is hard work, talent, or both the lyrics really shine on the disc. “This Foolish Heart” starts things off with a bang. The very catchy chorus “this foolish heart can’t take a hint, and keeps me comin’ round your door.” The next cut is “Let Me Down” where the singer laments a lost love and its effect on him, singing “All I seem to play are the minor chords, the major ones won’t show their face no more.” Whyte uses multiple instrumentation , frequently highlighting mandolin and fiddle as well as pedal steel and piano. He also has great vocal range for a male singer. “Mercury” starts off slowly and with the lyrics “left stranded on your couch, just dreaming about your mouth.” As this relationship rises and falls like “mercury” so does the tempo, picking up in the middle with the addition of mandolin.
My favorite song on the CD is the hard driving “Linden to LA.” which starts off with harmonica much like “I Feel Alright” by Steve Earle. I’m sure Joe will get some comparisons to Earle, who also writes his own tunes and skillfully mixes instruments and tempo on his CDs. One of the slower tunes is “No More,” which is essentially a vocals/mandolin tune with a nice harmonica/mandolin bridge in the middle of the tune. I imagine this would be a particularly effective tune live. This is followed by the pretty ballad “Out of Tune” on which Joe is joined on harmony vocals by his friend Kelly McRae whose beautiful voice and music I hope to be reviewing on this site shortly. The CD closes with the simple but very nice tune “Ring Around the Moon,” another tune that makes me think Joe may have better success with music than with relationships. He sings “I miss your keys, left in the door that let me know you made your way home, and all your shoes thrown in the hall, your favorite ones that made you seem so tall.”
Apparently others have lauded Joe’s songwriting ability. For the past three years Joe has been a recipient of an ASCAPlus award which is a merit-based songwriting grant from ASCAP. He has also had music placed in the PBS show “Roadtrip Nation.” Do yourself a favor, take the “Desperate Housewives Season 1” DVD off your Christmas list and replace it with Devil in the Details by Joe Whyte. Besides having a great CD to listen to you won’t be teased as much by the guys on the bowling team!
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