Album Notes

Honest lyrics and catchy melodies tell the story of characters at the breaking point where relationships and dreams, sometimes lives, hang by a thread. The music ignores any boundaries between rock, folk, and country. Acoustic guitar blends with angelic viola, haunting lap pedal steel, and the occasional outbursts of garage style amplifier feedback. Bare-bones production creates an austere atmosphere for the simple but effective arrangements leaving the focus on Riggs’ rough and tumble guitar and voice.

Press/Reviews:

"He describes himself as a “singer-songwriter with nothing left to lose” and “desperate, but optimistic,” and kicks off his latest record, Pawn Shop Special (JasonRiggs.com), with an unabashed tribute to Woody Guthrie, “This Machine”—as in “This Machine Kills Fascists.” New Mexico expat Jason Riggs is a real-deal folk singer with grimy fingers in Americana and rock, spinning haunting yarns like “Stronger than Death” as only a former semiconductor plant worker could."
- Bill Frost, Music Picks, Salt Lake Weekly July 15, 2004

“Pawn Shop Special, contains a track or two locals might recognize from Riggs' Dingo days, but it's full of new material that's quite refreshing.”
- Music to Your Ears By Michael Henningsen , Weekly Alibi 7/8/2004

"Simplicity permeates this song (Everyday Like This) all though it beguiles. Every sound has its place from the motor style guitar and hand thump to the crisp shaker and pedal steel guitar soaring above the vocals that have a satisfied attitude about them. Remember the early recordings of Elvis and Harry Belifonte on RCA, that almost empty hall effect?
There is a beautifiul picture of domesticity. This song is a snap shot of the mythical boy and girl relationship. It conjures up the dream romance that never came for most of us. The repetitive nature of the chords with the droning bass allows us to stay in their world. Happy, warm and in love. I'm waiting for her to get off work too and I want to leave this town with her, where are my keys?...
The way the song travels from 1st verse-bedroom, kitchen, 2nd verse-car, highway, bridege-advice to 3rd verse-dinner booth, adios to bliss is a smooth transition. The line, "Everybody's dancing like the songs about to end" is fabulous imagery in the bridge. The one thing that would help is if it was easier to hear the words. The second time through I able to get them all. The understated solo interlude does not over shadow the overall lovey-dovey atmosphere and keeps with tone of the song. Having the pedal steel guitar echo the "la da da da da" at the end reinforces the "this is going to last forever" feeling.
To be able to capture the sights and smells of a moment and place them in time is the goal of any writer."
-Peter Burg, Pueblosongwriters.com, Review of the song "Everyday Like This" Jan. 2005