Dylan Earl Level-Headed Even Smile
Dylan Earl is a character: on stage, in the studio, and in person. His newest album release, Level-Headed Even Smile puts his true personality on full display for the audience to hear. His first 3 albums, showcase his songwriting and voice, but his newest album highlights his storytelling and the wry humor he finds in the depths of his own sadness. When I met Dylan earlier this summer at Off-Broadway in St. Louis, he mentioned he’d be having a new album coming out in the fall, so I was excited when I saw this on the list. It’s worth the excitement. This album aims for the fences and delivers on each and every song.
Mr. Earl not only hit home runs with the writing, but he did so with the accompanying musicians who participated on the album. Besides Dylan with his guitar and baritone twang, the album features Dick Darden on drums and percussion, Chris Wood on bass, Lee Zodrow on piano, Grady Drugg on guitar and baritone, Grant D’Aubin on bass, mandolin and backing vocals, Hamilton Belk plays the pedal steel and dobro, and Jude Brothers and Meredith Kimbrough perform the backing vocals. Special guests include Johno Leery with the background vocals and truck sounds on “Get in the Truck.” Charlie Jones and Eric Witthans perform background vocals on “Two Kinds of Loner.” Willi Carlisle and Jess Harp come in for “White River Valley” while Nick Shoulders adds the bird sounds. Nick also joins in background vocals on “Lawn Chair” as do Jack Studer and Chelsea Moosekian. In the eight years Dylan has been recording solo music, his surrounding cast has grown and grown impressively: this album is enhanced by each of the additional musicians and they all work in unison to make the songs even stronger.
Seeing him live, I noted how especially talented he is as a singer. Level-Headed Even Smile has some great stories but also some great country singing. His tremolo comes out on almost every song on the album and adds a deeper emotionality. It’s especially apparent when he reaches “the thin place”, the place between the heavenly and earthly, a subject recurrent throughout the tracks. We find him looking for that place in his past on tracks like “Little Rock Bottom”, “High on Ouachita” and “White River Valley”. Each of these take us deep into Arkansas, revealing his youth and where he found his way. His voice echoes and its natural, no extra reverb or excessive layering in the mix. The deep baritone adds sincerity and seriousness, even when the verses have humor in them.
The biggest surprise of the album was the inclusion of Utah Phillips’, “Rock Me To Sleep.” The line, “Its a long way from no place to somewhere” speaks specifically to the thin place between realms. Phillips’ song may be harkening back to the places between towns when he was riding the rails, but its an apt metaphor for musicians who are on the road, on tour, and find themselves in the strangest of places. These fringes of the landscape, the fringe of societal norms is what Dylan speaks of throughout the album. It’s at that edge, where he finds the thin place and where he finds the subjects of his songs.
Listening to this album takes you to the borderland. He’s mastered that edge, the fringe, while holding onto his stylistic underpinnings rooted deeply in traditional country music. This album reveals a more mature Dylan Earl. He’s perfected the art of letting his voice fill the empty spaces. Where his baritone doesnt ascend, he consciously chooses the appropriate musicians to fill in the blanks. This is an excellent album and should make all independent country music fans excited for the future.
This album is available for streaming on all platforms on September 19. For more detailed information and to purchase a physical copy, visit Dylan Earl’s website at http://www.dylanearl.com
Level-Headed Even Smile was co-produced by Dylan Earl, Grady P. Drugg, Grant D’Aubin, and Eric Witthans. It was recorded and mixed by Eric Witthans at Homestead Studio in Fayetteville, Arkansas with pre-production in Lebo, Kansas with Grant D’Aubin. It was mastered by Justin Douglas at King Electric Recording Co.
Track list:
- “Level-Headed Even Smilee” (3:25)
- “Get in the Truck” 2:55)
- “Broken Parts” (3:34)
- “Little Rock Bottom” (2:48)
- “Two Kinds of Loner” (3:47)
- “High on Ouachita” (3:41)
- “Outlaw Country” (2:46)
- “White River Valley” (2:38)
- “Lawn Chair” (2:49)
- “Rock Me to Sleep” (2:27)
Great review, Chris! You always do a good job of summarizing these albums in a very digestible manner.
Thanks Kyle! There’s nothing I enjoy doing as much at this stage in life than this. There’s a depth to each album that can get lost in the day to day. I try to give them the attention they deserve!