Daryl Mosley – A Life Well Lived
A little closer to the earth is this 11-cut homegrown CD from Daryl Mosley. No showboating just clean concise music by a tight aggregation. It comes from the soil that gave us John Hartford, Arlo Guthrie, Guy Clark, early John Denver & Goose Creek Symphony. The songs are stories, reminisces & nostalgia.
“Back When We Were Boys,” could apply itself with a few lyrical adjustments to city boys too & that’s what makes a song like this relatable & charming. The song reminds me of Englishman James Maddock’s “My Old Neighborhood.” Both songs would work well together since they have such a rich family & childhood recollection path. There’s also a James Taylor quality to some of Daryl’s compositions. So, they’re not all just rural country backwoods tales but ballads with the richness of a mainstream artist.
The 37-minute A Life Well Lived (Drops July 21–Pinecastle Recordings) was produced by Daryl Mosley (vocals/bass) & Danny Roberts (mandolin). Recorded in Ashland City, TN songs like “Mayberry State of Mind,” may sound silly, but Daryl comes across like a smoother-voiced late bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley. It has that vintage tone to help give his light-storied songs the buoyancy required to keep them afloat. I like this & the backup singers sparkle. Not silly by a long shot.
The well-constructed songs are short stories with an Americana rootsy atmosphere. You don’t have to necessarily be from the South to appreciate this landscape. I say that because I know if he was still alive a California musician like Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead would love this stuff. There’s a tinge of Hot Tuna’s approach but Mosley’s turn is more authentic since he lived the life.
“Working Man’s Prayer,” is a beauty. It’s what makes roots artists as far away as New Zealand, Sweden & Italy perform tunes like this with such gusto. I love songs that include words like June bugs, Gideons, we agree to disagree, eating slices off a blade & such. This is the 3rd solo outing for troubadour Mosley. In his 30th year, he has performed at the Grand Ole Opry & the famed Bluebird Café.
“We Need More of That,” dips into the Charlie Gearhart (Goose Creek Symphony) bucket since he’s done this type of song since the early 70s. What a team Mosley & Gearhart could be. Mosley always had that kind of hardworking salt-of-the-earth magic.
Highlights – “A Life Well Lived,” “Back When We Were Boys,” “Walking Man,” “Mayberry State of Mind,” “Working Man’s Prayer,” “We Need More of That,” “Nobody But Her” & “Hillbilly Graham.”
Musicians – Tony Wray (guitar/banjo), Adam Haynes (fiddle), Jaelee Roberts, Riley Dotson, Sarah Davidson & Jeanette Williams (harmony vocals) & Ronnie Booth (lead vocals on “Big God”).
CD portrait image by Candy Seaton. CD @ https://pinecastlemusic.com/daryl-mosley-releases-a-life-well-lived-single/
Enjoy our previous coverage here: REVIEW: Daryl Mosley “Small Town Dreamer”