Bill Abernathy
Cross Willow Creek
Can’t Go Back 3:42 Changes 4:28
Willow Creek 3:40 Cry Wolf 4:14 Meant to Be 5:07 Whisky Road 4:10 Love’s in
Vain 4:37 White Knight 4:31Any Port in a Storm 4:39
Yuppie Blues 4:14 Icarus Ascending 4:14
This
album is amazing. It opens up with, “Can’t Go Back,” which really showcases the
writing skills by this singer. The chart considers this folk, I’m assuming
because of the acoustic and the lyrics. But I would consider this Southern
Rock. I consider his artistic expertise to be on par with Tom Petty.
I
had to do my research on this one, due to the fact that I hadn’t heard of him.
It seems he quit music to go into business, then later decided to go back to
music. I’m glad he did, because I believe this is an artist worth following.
“Willow Creek,” the album’s title track is so well written it deserves multiple
awards from the Country Music Awards. It is nostalgic and gives a look into the
artist’s history. The roots of his journey, the place it all began.
“Whisky
Road,” has a more of electric guitar solos than most of the album. Great riffs
and chord progressions. This is a well written song that’s a lot heavier than
most of the album. It is about him travelling on the road to the various
nightclubs, playing the circuit and feeling the loneliness of it all. Musically
and lyrically it would probably turn out fans the most. Just the title alone
had me wanting to review it.
The
title, “Icarus Ascending,” had me stumped the most. Now, he really shows off
his vocal skills in this song, as well as his lyrical ability and maturity. It
is a beautiful tune and the idea to place this song at the end of the album was
brilliant.
There
is nothing negative I can say about this album. The production, the lyrics, the
vocals, the band backing him up. Everything was perfectly put together. This is
an album that you would really want to listen to, save, purchase because I
really believe this is only the beginning of the journey he will take all of us
on.
Jeremy
Frost for Country Music News International