Everyone knows at least one of them – the one who makes it look easy. The athlete who can effortlessly succeed at any sport, the friend who can quickly produce the best meal out of seemingly nothing, the music fan who can quickly and completely dissect any new song or album. We mere, flawed mortals may at times resent those talents, but we know that, behind all that “easy” success, there’s most likely years of hard work and learned failure that’s brought out and honed that talent for us to enjoy. Adam Carroll is that guy. Through six previous studio albums, Carroll has made the job of being a singer-songwriter seem effortless and tossed off, but if you’ve ever picked up a guitar or a notebook, you know that ain’t the case. Now, on his seventh album, I Walked In Them Shoes, Carroll reminds us how deceptively difficult, but still rewarding, a musician’s life can be.
The lead track, “Walked In Them Shoes” (written with Brian Rung and Paul Cauthen), is THE story of the modern-day road musician. Like most Carroll songs, it’s simple guitar and vocals – he even continues his habit of mentioning the song’s title at the beginning of the recording. We’re told about the travel conditions – “Stuck in a Detroit diesel/Pretty sure it’s a Silver Eagle/The heat’s been off for about a hundred miles.” But the effort is worth it, at least somewhat: “Well sometimes it’s gold, or so we were told/But we go the extra mile.” It’s the workaday life that thousands of musicians are living, but few express it so plainly and concisely.
Carroll is not the most overtly political of songwriters, but he sees wrong where there should be right in “Storms”, noting that one’s (mis)fortunes are often simply a function of geography: “Well I pray for Puerto Rico/While I’m in bed safe and warm/And when I lay down to go to sleep/They’re still struggling with that storm.” On a more personal level, “The Last Word” (written with Dustin Welch and Halleyanna Finlay) asks why we shout when we should be listening: “If we’re always trying to write the end/We’ll never look back on the time we did spend.” We lose too much when we fight.
Road and touring songs form the core of I Walked In Them Shoes. “Crescent City Angels” (written with Michael O’Connor and Carroll’s wife, Chris) expresses a love of New Orleans, warts and all. “My Only Good Shirt” follows producer Lloyd Maines (and his clothes) through the high and lows of his career – “I’m not Viva Las Vegas/But I’m Motel 6 famous.” And “Night At The Show” follows the emotional swings of an evening at the local honky-tonk, from musician to fan to lonely drinker: “You were the best friend to that kind/(Which is my kind)/That I’ve ever known.” This song is a tribute to Kent Finlay, long-time owner of Cheatham Street Warehouse in San Marcos, Texas, who was the patron saint of Texas songwriters and passed away a few years ago.
The musical adornment is pleasantly sparse on the album. “Caroline” features some fantastic pedal steel from Lloyd Maines, and “Cordelia” rides a bed of harmonium, which was provided by engineer Pat Manske during the original recording of the song but played by Carroll (at Maines’ insistence) on the final cut. That’s it for studio trickery on the album, leaving the songs to sink or swim on their merits. And swim they do.
I Walked In Them Shoes was produced by Lloyd Maines and recorded, mixed and mastered by Pat Manske. Carroll (vocals, guitar, marmonica, harmonium and keys) and Maines (pedal steel, rhythm and slide guitars) are the sole musicians of record on the album. Carroll, who isn’t known for his frequent release of new material, has promised a second album this year, a collection of songs written and performed with his wife, Chris. If you like I Walked In Them Shoes, keep that on your radar. https://www.adamcarroll.com/