We like to feature a lot of singer-songwriters on this site of ours. One guy who should have his picture next to the singer-songwriter definition in the dictionary is Texan Adam Carroll. 2008 saw the release of his latest studio album, Old Town Rock N Roll. His previous cds have been produced by Lloyd Maines. He and Lloyd Maines had an agreement that “the song is the thing, not the instrumentation.” Even though this disc was not produced by Maines (instead by Scott Nolan), this mindset is plainly evident as you listen to Old Town Rock N Roll.
Adam says, “The core of what I do is songwriting; it’s the one thing I’m passionate about. It’s the most fulfilling and challenging job I can imagine.” The songs are generally sparse in instrumentation but rich in words and “feel”, as well as melody. His often humorous take on things is reminiscent of some of John Prine’s. He has also drawn comparisons to Townes Van Zandt and Todd Snyder. Besides Adam on lead vocals, guitars and organ the instrumentation is provided by producer Scott Nolan on guitars, bass, piano, mandolin and harmonica (is that all?), Joanna Miller on drums, Adrian Schoolar on dobro and Mark and Joy Jungers on background vocals. Mark also supplies “garage” for the cd, as the disc was recorded in his.
Hi Fi Love is a great example of a one of his beautifully written, melodic tunes that asks,
Would you like some…freebird rockin’ white trash Hi Fi Love?….
Fig leaf wearing, doobie sharin’ Pink Floyd Hi Fi Love?….
Another excellent tune is Rain, co-written by Adam and his friend Gordy Quist (Band of Heathens), but the most interesting tune of the cd has to be Porter Wagner (The Silvertone Song) about a guitar signed by Porter. The solo tune really speaks more to the generation gap between Adam and his nephew (who doesn’t even know who Porter Wagner is..!)
“I don’t like my nephew, he always hangs around.
His jacket smells like reefer. He puts my music down.
He says he is a poet, but his words don’t even rhyme.
He’ll never see my Silvertone that ‘ol Porter Wagner signed.”
There is even a surprise “hidden track” at the end of the disc, a live, rough and rowdy version of the disc’s opening song Black Flag Blues. Adam is only in his early 30s, so he will hopefully keep giving us rich well written songs for some time to come!
Website: www.AdamCarroll.com
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