ROY KING
It’s About Time
Choo Choo Train – Old Rock – Silver Train –
Wild Prairie Fire – White Shirt – Poor Man – On My Mind – This Dream –
In Days To Come – The Guitar
Wild Prairie Fire – White Shirt – Poor Man – On My Mind – This Dream –
In Days To Come – The Guitar
It simply amazes me that songwriters, ‘real’ songwriters of
country music continue to step up to the plate to bat, even though
Music City, Nashville, Tennessee, has slammed the doors, and removed the
plate, on nearly every songwriter that ever had the inspiration and
desire to put into words the ‘feelings’ of everyday people. The music
we hear today called ‘country’ is a very trashy pale imitation of the
‘real deal.’ I never get tired of saying that, I’ve been involved with
country music all my life, and even though no one listens to me, I do
indeed listen to these songwriters that put their heart and their soul
into the words they write down on a piece of paper, and then ultimately,
they find a way to get it recorded. Mr. King went to the North 40
Studios to do this session, with Dave Russell engineering. I don’t know
where that is at, nor do I know very much about Roy King, or even how I
came to be in possession of this CD, but one thing is for sure. Mr.
King knows what he wants to accomplish in the studio. His original songs
run the gamut from true-blue country, to a Charlie Daniels sounding
“Wild Prairie Fire” with a fiddle on it that just blows me away. Lots of
interesting interpretations of the various sounds Roy is capturing.Dave
Russell, the engineer, also plays lead guitar, bass, steel, sax,
accordion and background vocals. Mike Nepodal is on piano, sax, special
effects and musical arrangements, so you can see it’s quite a
conglomeration of sounds, but in the final mix, it all seems to come
together to create a very interesting, very well done, very versatile,
and very original recording. The album is dedicated to Roy’s family,
and I suspect the first track “Choo Choo Train” might very well have
been written for a younger member of the family. “White Shirt” drifts
quite a long way away from country, but it’s still a remarkable ‘story’
song. I really like the old-timey sound of the accordion on “This
Dream” is fascinating. It’s a waltz tempo creation, and a love song
that is really ‘legitimate’ even the steel guitar is terrific. I also
like the voice of Roy King, many times songwriters don’t have the
ability to ‘sell’ their own works and must rely on someone else to do
the demos for them. Not so with Roy King, his voice is as good as his
songs. Terrific.
country music continue to step up to the plate to bat, even though
Music City, Nashville, Tennessee, has slammed the doors, and removed the
plate, on nearly every songwriter that ever had the inspiration and
desire to put into words the ‘feelings’ of everyday people. The music
we hear today called ‘country’ is a very trashy pale imitation of the
‘real deal.’ I never get tired of saying that, I’ve been involved with
country music all my life, and even though no one listens to me, I do
indeed listen to these songwriters that put their heart and their soul
into the words they write down on a piece of paper, and then ultimately,
they find a way to get it recorded. Mr. King went to the North 40
Studios to do this session, with Dave Russell engineering. I don’t know
where that is at, nor do I know very much about Roy King, or even how I
came to be in possession of this CD, but one thing is for sure. Mr.
King knows what he wants to accomplish in the studio. His original songs
run the gamut from true-blue country, to a Charlie Daniels sounding
“Wild Prairie Fire” with a fiddle on it that just blows me away. Lots of
interesting interpretations of the various sounds Roy is capturing.Dave
Russell, the engineer, also plays lead guitar, bass, steel, sax,
accordion and background vocals. Mike Nepodal is on piano, sax, special
effects and musical arrangements, so you can see it’s quite a
conglomeration of sounds, but in the final mix, it all seems to come
together to create a very interesting, very well done, very versatile,
and very original recording. The album is dedicated to Roy’s family,
and I suspect the first track “Choo Choo Train” might very well have
been written for a younger member of the family. “White Shirt” drifts
quite a long way away from country, but it’s still a remarkable ‘story’
song. I really like the old-timey sound of the accordion on “This
Dream” is fascinating. It’s a waltz tempo creation, and a love song
that is really ‘legitimate’ even the steel guitar is terrific. I also
like the voice of Roy King, many times songwriters don’t have the
ability to ‘sell’ their own works and must rely on someone else to do
the demos for them. Not so with Roy King, his voice is as good as his
songs. Terrific.
REVIEW BY BOB EVERHART – www.ntcma.net
for Country Music News International Magazine