Ron Sowell – Dance Till The Music Stops
This set is a diversified showcase. Traditional to modern is featured with certain varieties of music that don’t always mesh, but Ron Sowell has a balanced approach — a mix of flavors including folk to jazz, R&B to samba & conjunto to creole. Quite a deep dip for a skillful artist navigating his 4th studio LP.
There are 10 tunes to Dance Till The Music Stops (Drops May 9/Mountain Soul Records/43:02) recorded in West Virginia & produced by Ron (vocal/acoustic guitar/ukulele/harmonica/bgv). The set has its moments of piano bar jazz stirred into coffee house folk & Tex-Mex.
Fortunately, Ron’s voice isn’t a generic pop or ballad voice. He has a warm, dusty voice nourished by a confident tone. While “Everything That Goes Around Comes Round,” is lively & propulsive, some songs are more novelty-oriented, such as “It’s All Up To You.” It’s not a bad song. Ron’s tune is nonetheless fun & the backup singers are quite good. Taking a step back from novelty at the end, he provides the poignant “Out There In the Hall/Old Songs” that’s excellent. (Though I could’ve done without the barbershop quartet conclusion).
Other tunes are played well, but nothing’s elaborately showcased or controversial. The tastiness comes with Ron’s perfectly pop-oriented vocalism, which makes him unique. He’s mostly a troubadour, a singer-songwriter with little in the way of blues inflection, country corniness, or a heavy rock influence. He’s a pure storyteller. Mostly a middle-of-the-road & easy listening vocalist who treads the folkier fields of Tim Hardin, Tim Buckley & Eric Andersen.
The slow-paced “There Is Only Love” has a more emotional treatment than an instrumental thrust. It also has a cool Ron harmonica solo. Eric Andersen or Tom Paxton would’ve performed this.
The catchiest tunes are “At Home In the World” & “Who But a Fool” (with its soulful backup vocalists adding the pepper). These are both good, classy radio fodder.
Highlights – “Everything That Goes Round Comes Round,” “It’s All Up To You,” “There Is Only Love,” “At Home In the World,” “Do You Think It’s That Easy,” “I Never Knew” & “Out There In the Hall/Old Songs.”
Musicians – Jeff Haught (piano/electric piano/organ/melodica/vocal arrangements), Randy Gilkey (piano), Lars Swanson (electric bass/fretless electric bass/acoustic bass/sax/horn arrangements), Ryan Kennedy (6 & 12 string electric & classical guitars), Ammed Solomon (drums/percussion/body percussion/washboard/chimes), Ted Harrison (tuba), Jeff Carter (clarinet), David Porter (trumpet), Alex Cardwell (trombone), Joel Guzman (accordion/maracas), Alasha Al-Qudwha (violin/string section), Julie Adams, Kira Small (bgv), Kathy Mattea & Jon Wikstrom (harmony vocal/bgv), Chuck Rives, Tommy Williams, Bill Kimmons & Ron (barbershop quartet/bgv) & Mira Costa (bgv/vocal arrangements).
Color image courtesy of Ron’s website. A full-color 12pp stitched lyric insert is enclosed. CD @ https://www.ronsowell.com/
Song Premiere: Song Premiere: Ron Sowell “Everything that Goes Round Comes Round”