David G Smith – Hero Street
This set gets off to a dark start with the serious ballad “Hero Street,” sung in a near-narrative style of Ramblin’ Jack Elliott with a sharp storytelling approach. Smith has a strong folky voice on his 12th album. Acoustic folk-blues that explore heavy themes. Smith includes veterans & their families in his musical expose.
12 intense pieces take a cautious walk on Hero Street (Dropped June 26/Independent/44:31) produced by Neilson Hubbard (drums/percussion) & recorded in East Nashville. “Days of Babel” chugs along with a noirish horn that drifts around Smith’s commanding troubadour vocal. The tightly woven lyric doesn’t spend much time with sugary phrases; instead, it unspools as tantalizingly dark as Tom Waits but not as tough. Nonetheless, the construction is on solid ground. By the time of “Green Fire,” he’s close to gospel with a spiritual density. Nothing’s boring, just gripping.
The indigenous singer-songwriter, the late John Trudell, explored similar terrain. With so much music released today with its saccharine cliched deep pablum songs, or radically angry word salads decorated in over-produced numbers, David (vocals/piano/acoustic guitar) tries to keep his messages reined in & doesn’t lecture. He lays out beautiful lines with his tender melodies & succeeds in leaving behind the mist of a lesson.
A little rockier is “Broken…Open,” which carries itself along at a good clip. Smith keeps the humor well-tailored. His voice has good intonation, phrasing, & tonality. Some lyrics are less formative than others, but never veer into silliness, simplicity, repetitiveness, or self-indulgence. These types of songs can leave themselves open to pretentiousness, but Smith navigates that path carefully & seldom falls victim to that temptation.
I’d like to say he’s almost as clever as the late folkie Phil Ochs, but David doesn’t get that radical, & Ochs did have in his repertoire many beautifully written songs. But Ochs had an issue with his main appeal – it was limited. Dylan knew it, & this is why Bob shifted away from politics & protest.
David G Smith takes his heavy-duty pieces into a more distilled (not diluted) style where the message is still paramount through his storytelling (“Walking Each Other Home”). It’s a near-rap blended with folk tendrils much the same as Joan Baez’s “Time Rag,” & Bobby Darin’s earlier “Mr. Hohner.” The rap was there on these early pieces but done cleverly & essentially without anger.
With “Angelina,” David skates across the warmth of Martyn Joseph (“Please Sir”) & lays out a wonderfully poignant ballad. On some songs, David isn’t without his ounce of entertaining tunes.
Highlights – “Hero Street,” “Days of Babel,” “Rust On the Moon,” “Green Fire,” “Walking Each Other Home,” “Angelina,” & “Rachel’s Story.”
Musicians – Lex Price (bass), Dan Mitchell (piano/mellotron/Hammond B3/horn), Juan Solorzano (steel, electric & slide electric guitars), & Mia Winsinski (bgv).
B&W image courtesy of Neilson Hubbard. The lyrics are on the inside panels. CD @ https://davidgsmithmusic.com/home