Doug Rice is not only an American troubadour, he is an American shaman. If the house of cards is indeed falling,we can at least find solace in encountering art like this as a byproduct.
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Doug "Deacon" Rice opens "Resouled" with the folk-pop song "Runnin' Back," but with the songs that follow, he quickly makes it clear that this Rice comes in many flavors. The "Old Man"-like "Come to Me" and the "Ohio"-like "Nixon's Ghost" reveal Neil Young's influence, while "Better Way" and "Once Bound for Glory" show The Beatles' influence, and "Into Air" displays Rice's mastery of finger-picked blues. Throughout the album, Rice's searing electric guitar — often heard only in the background — gives his folksier songs a welcome harder edge than such songs usually have. In particular, dig Rice's fuzz-toned solo on "Greatest Gift" and his plaintive violin on "The Chosen Ones" and hear how his melodic guitar riffs propel "Runnin' Back" and "Neona." 

Rice's lyrics tackle big subjects in general and personal terms and are complex and intelligent throughout. "Nixon's Ghost," for example, draws a direct line from Richard Nixon's invasion of Cambodia, which was staged from the base camp where Rice was stationed in Vietnam, to George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq and the fallout from that move. "Once Bound for Glory" assesses the state of the union — derailed American ideals under Bush — while "Little Bighorn" summarizes the lives and deaths of Crazy Horse and Gen. George Custer. "Greatest Gift" reflects upon parental legacies, and Rice's own baby boomer generation, by the way, gets upbraided on "The Chosen Ones."

"Resouled" rocks in all the right places, but most of all, it presents this songwriter in all his multifaceted complexity and talent as a musician and lyricist. 

-- Andrew S. Hughes
Arts & entertainment editor
South Bend (Ind.) Tribune
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