THANKSGIVING REVIEW: TOM RUSSELL’S LOVE & FEAR

by Bradley Mason Hamlin



Chris Isaak with balls.

Charles Bukowski’s orphaned half-brother.

Bastard son of Van Ronk.

Just some of the things they’re saying about Tom Russell.

Yet, you’ve got to hear it to believe, mis amigos.

Right now, in the modern demise of what I would call real music, with radio hustlers plaguing the airwaves, I am proud to say there are a handful of musicians out there on a frontier that is neither new nor old. It simply is the frontier. Either you’re there or you aren’t. Radio musicians are not on any form of a frontier; they are sellers of the illusion, and I hear in India they call them “fakers.”

Anyway, straight to the point, Tom Russell’s new album Love and Fear tells it true, because it’s played from the heart, the only receptacle of truth I know of.

One of things I really like about the album is that it grabs you by the shirt and shakes you right away. If you’re not going to like Russell, you’ll know it from the get-go, but I’m willing to put good odds you’ll not only keep listening, but feel like you’ve just sucked in a fresh hit of oxygen. One of my favorite songs is “Ash Wednesday,” an extremely well-written and well-sung tune, but when Gretchen Peters vocalizes in you’re gonna get a little excited. She has one of those voices that invokes a cocktail shaken with a subtle mix of sexuality and sincerity.

As Tom says, beautiful trouble.

Tom also tells us “crocodiles have four-chambered hearts,” but you only need half-a-heart to love this music.


Available from: HighTone Records: www.hightone.com


Happy holidays from,

Bradley Mason Hamlin
November 23, 2006
mysteryisland.net




CONTACT