Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Nashville never fails to bring life to the music realm, whether it is in the form of the native soul who has found pleasure in performing for his crowd and his people, or the interloper turned adopted child who finds their voice whilst resting on many a bar and their lyrical wonder whilst chasing the elusive dream, Nashville is to music in America as Liverpool is to life and persuasion in the U.K., no matter who goes there, they end up staying and spreading the good word.
Gone, Long Gone are the days of lonely absorption, of hitting the road in search of a song to sing, waiting for inspiration to cast the dye on success and failure, the world has changed, and we must continue to adapt to its more recent noises, the urges, the sentiment it so badly wants us to notice.
How we do that is up to us, but in collaboration we find the like minded and the inquisitive, and as such it is with thanks and caress of heart that Vancouver’s, now Nashville’s, hometown hero of Steve Dawson, together with Alberta songwriter Matt Patershuk, have created an album of depth, of stature, and tenacity that Gone, Long Gone is no longer a cry of abandonment, it is of determination and belief that sees Mr. Dawson rise above the scenic view and push out the devils and demons that sometimes haunt the streets of Nashville.
Panache and style are often underrated in the minds of those who seek excess and charge others for the misery they have inflicted upon them, but as tracks such as Bad Omen, I Just Get Lost, the exquisite melody of Kulaniapia Waltz, a superb reading of The Faces song Ooh La La, Time Has Made A Fool Out Of Me, Skeletons In A Car, the tremendous King Bennie Had His Shit Together, and the album title track of Gone, Long Gone all burst out of Steve Dawson’s superbly acute and musically adept mind.
The last couple of years as the world struggled to come to grips with the way the world has turned may have been one of everyday hanging on, but in belief, and in honour of those that didn’t make it, we must rise above, we must understand that to give in is not an option, that this time round we must endeavour to learn that collaboration is the key; and in this hope Steve Dawson is the point of reference to which we must hold our hands out to.
Steve Dawson releases Gone, Long Gone on March 18th via Black Hen Music.
Ian D. Hall