Soul is one of those illusive substances in the Universe, like Dark Matter, that is ever present but ineffable and un-locatable.  You can't point to any given thing and say it is 'soul.'  Soul oozes from the cracks between things; it is the junction of the spiritual and the physical world.  Just as Hank Williams wailed the white southern soul, Joe has intoned a modern iteration of redneck soul, not from the pressurized hothouse that spawned the sound of black Soul music, but rather from the quiet desperation of the middle class American South.  This haunting collection runs the gamut from the sublime to the silly without becoming at any time irrelevant.  The pining for connection in the opening track "Just You and Me" can be felt from the first strains of the opening fiddle.  An open and empty landscape invites the togetherness of the alone.  The following track slides down the frets in a bluesy twang with "Walkin’ Talkin’ Country Song."  Here we find the ode to the Modern American Redneck on par with Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself."  Next, "Loves Blind" celebrates the pounding of the redneck heart against the artificial boundaries of society when seeking physical union.   But do not despair, the boogie-woogie beat of "Mail Box Money" turns a grin and a growl into a dancehall romp.  Perhaps the strongest ballad on the CD, "Only Friends" takes the theme of star-crossed love from "Loves Blind" into an odyssey of the love-that-never-was.  More lonesome pining for the American Dream fuels the tractor-pull-of-the-heart which is "Set It Down," as the listless soul of the now middle-aged redneck oozes from life’s imponderables.  My personal favorite, "Shakespeare (The Fishin' Song)" takes us to the river, not for immersion to wash away our sins but rather to find that honey hole that makes life worthwhile.  "Summer Nights" is a paean to the simple Southern joys that make the wretched Texas heat, if not bearable, somehow alright.  Finally, "Take My Hand" provides the union which in previous ballads denied us, but with the acknowledgement that it is a frail arrangement of two lost souls finding their way through the world together.  In conclusion, this album is a ‘portrait of the artist as a young redneck,’ but more so a depiction of the soul as engendered by a modern white southern male.  It is an ode to joyous existence in an erstwhile miserable milieu.   I hope to hear more from this artist in the near future.    -Michael H
                            Read more...