The
Old Chapel,
Birmingham, UK
September
2 2000
Son
of legendary (as in Buddy Holly) Nashville writer-producer Bob,
Montgomery's
slowly carving his own solid writing career, his I Won't Close My
Eyes
already having found lodgings on a Martina McBride double platinum
seller.
But, somewhat akin to Jackson Browne, his songs are best done by the
man
himself. Bob Harris is a stalwart supporter of his rootsy country rock,
plaintive keening vocals and tales of unrequited love.
Accompanied
by regular guitarist Doug Pettibone (brother of Shep), sessioner Pat
Buchanan
and, currently kicking their heels while Raul Malo plays solo,
Mavericks
rhythm section Robert Reynolds and Paul Deakin, the date serves to
profile
sophomore album Another Long Story (Road Trip), another
collection
of sweetly-sung, melodic heartaches that run the gamut from crushing
regret
(Broken) to suicidal loneliness (Angel Tonight), and
finds
time to share some hurt with Springsteen's I Wish I Were Blind,
but with never a hint of maudlin sentimentality.
Opening
the night is Ohio-born Jeff Finlin, a singer-songwriter of a gnarlier
hue,
his influences less musical (though Dylan and Springsteen are
touchstones)
and more literary, his metaphor-packed four-minute novellas about the
dispossessed
and disillusioned picking up comparisons to Kerouac, Vonnegut,
Carver.
Sparse and bluesy, Original Fin (NBFNY) explores the human seesaw of
light
and dark, vice and virtue, responsibilities and consequences, the
downbeat
stories of The Perfect Mark of Cain and Waiting On A Flood balanced
with
the optimism of She's A Mama Now and Moonlight Becomes the
Dawn.
As the launch of new World Unlimited seasons, it'll be a hard act to
follow.
MD
What's
On (Birmingham, UK)
Issue
Date: September 2000
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