Tim Easton – Find Your Way
This set is not your run-of-the-mill mainstream production. The repetition is minimal, the silliness is non-existent & the focus is on poignancy & maturity in its storytelling & with the time-honored recipe of balladry. Tim Easton is cut from the same stone as John Prine, Gordon Lightfoot, Eric Andersen, David Blue & a list of songwriters who craft short stories through melodies.
This LP opens with no production values but does unfold with distinguished words, music & vocals that appeal first to the heart before the toe taps. “Find Your Way,” & the exceptional “Everything You’re Afraid Of,” are the pulse of the street. The late Dave Van Ronk the ‘Mayor of Greenwich Village’ would’ve appreciated the value of Tim Easton’s songwriting. No protestations, no anger, just a sensitive, well-articulated & discreet arrangement between musical voices.
There are 10 significant pieces on Find Your Way (Drops May 17/Black Mesa Records/34:00) produced at Neighborhood Recorders in Victoria, BC by Leroy Stagger. The songs are poetically painted & explore humankind, its behavior, the troubled relationships & the tales are told in three-minute short stories.
Like John Prine, Leonard Cohen, Jon Dee Graham & John Hiatt, Tim Easton’s voice is seasoned & articulate. Despite the mainstream being somewhat opposed to the uniqueness of individuals – be it in music, motion pictures, or books. But Easton has many of these qualities & this is what makes his work interesting. He doesn’t sound like a retread, or someone stuck in the mud of traditional music that has been done to death. He has clarity in his work & he creates his tradition.
With “Arkansas Twisted Heart,” Easton probes the swampier regions of J.J. Cale, Lucinda Williams & John Hiatt. Nice interplay between banjo, acoustic guitars, what sounds like a fiddle & a little harmonica over the top. It all sounds so naturalistically intricate. But that’s what you get when you have proficient musicians.
Easton has a genuine backwoods voice with tints of folk & blues that noodle its way through his tonality & phrasing in a relaxed manner. Easton would be home playing with blues great John P. Hammond or the late John Hartford. But at the same time, Tim brings his brand of Hee-Haw country varnish & it’s just for flavoring.
The LP comes to a poignant conclusion with “What Will It Take,” – heart-wrenching & exquisite. Songwriting at its best.
Highlights – “Find Your Way,” “Everything You’re Afraid Of,” “Little Brother,” “Bangin’ Drum (Inside My Mind),” “Arkansas Twisted Heart,” “Dishwasher’s Blue,” & “What Will It Take.”
Musicians – Geoff Hicks, Jeremy Holmes, Jeanne Tolmie, Ryland Moranz & Tyler Lieb.
Image courtesy of Tim’s website gallery. CD @ Apple + https://www.timeaston.com/Music & https://timeaston1.bandcamp.com/album/find-your-way
Enjoy our interview of Tim here: Interview: Tim Easton Gets More Personal For “Find Your Way”