Dig These Discs :: Ron Morris & Mark Erelli
Two interesting CD releases, each with 11 tracks, from male guitarists-singer-songwriters with especially direct, honest songs and appealing voices are well worth listening. What they also share is a stripped-down approach, both in instrumentation and naked emotionalism. I find both strongest when presented most simply: with uncluttered, simple songs without the distraction of a lot of other sound clouding the message and straight-from-the-heart voice when relaying its most serious messages. Thankfully, their subject matter goes well beyond the ups and downs and love or solipsistic explorations, evidencing writers and voices sounding engaged and thoughtful. Ron Morris’ Truth Stained Lies (Road Worm Music) is his third full-length CD; while Mark Erelli, with Delivered, already has half a dozen albums behind him on the Signature Sounds label.
Truth Stained Lies--Ron Morris
Ron Morris’s voice has a sweet, emotional tone and probably doesn’t need to overlay extra "ahhhhh" vocal tracks and tricks to accentuate moodiness. It’s a bit of overkill at times, taking away from what’s otherwise honest, from the bone real-feel openness. Speaking of openness, he’s an openly out performer-writer. His lyrics here, however, are neither specifically gay nor addressed to a male object of affections. When talking about love relationships, he addresses them to "you" rather than using any masculine pronouns or names. "Andy" is a reaction to a story about someone by that name in the news who, it seems, died in despair. "March On" is a third-person story song about father and son mentioning "a ghost for a bride" and referring to undealt-with memories. The lyric to his opening song ("Believe What You Will") has an irresistible invitation to simply "come in, sit down" and listen to his songs and make up your own mind leaves it all up to the listener.
Writing and performance generally engage, but occasionally, a melody that’s haunting in its simplicity risks being too simply repetitive in a sing-songy way. In "Back and Forth" he talks about "the pages of my journal flipping through my head" and indeed many of the songs feel like that -- personal confessions revealed and reviewed. But there’s also outreach here - an encouragement to be strong and persevere and to note the cost of taking what might seem to be the "easy" path in the convincing, encouraging but challenging "Swerve" ("if I threw in the towel...let it all slide...grab onto that rope and hope").
Mark Erelli--Delivered
Hope is also a subject for the gutsier, folk-rock bluesy Mark Erelli, though it can be hiding behind a cloud as his subject matter covers specifically the war in Iraq (the chilling tale of the life of military "Volunteers") and other mind-numbing news reports (literally, in the opener, "Hope Dies Last," a line borrowed from/inspired by Studs Terkel’s book title). These looks at the world situation are far more valuable that the catchy, but otherwise middle-of-the-road tale of the road traveled to "Baltimore." Erelli doesn’t always opt for obvious choices when it comes to matching his melodies to his lyrics: "Five Beer Town" the lament of a bored man with the blues due to a small seacoast town and small life (work, watch TV, sleep) isn’t set to slow, draggy music: it has, more interestingly, an underlying tension simmering musically and even a bit of a kick. In "Not Alone," there’s a similar setting and restless, and great variety in musical dynamics, from intimate confessional whispers to a building wail, accented by his harmonica-playing.
Religion, death, and self-questioning are recurring themes. The singer has an appealingly mournful sound to his voice when he relaxes into slower, sadder tale-spinning. Set at a funeral, "Man of the Family" perhaps stays in one musical/emotional plane too long before it gathers steam, with repetitive percussion becoming numbing: the track runs just under six minutes. When gloom takes a holiday in suggesting everyone should get a chance at the real love "Once," as he’s experiencing it, a sweeter, gentle vocal sound is revealed: a welcome respite. Things end with a plea to "Abraham" for guidance, a lost but hopeful soul’s catharsis and litany of unsettling concerns. Yet there’s that hope glimmering again, never too terribly far away for either of these artists, despite having their eyes very much open and their feet on their ground.
