CD Review Daryl Mosley – The Secret Of Life – by Austin Carlyle for Country Music News International Magazine & Radio Show

CD Review Daryl Mosley – The Secret Of Life – by Austin Carlyle for Country Music News International Magazine & Radio Show

A Few Years Ago 3:29
The Secret Of Life  4:19
In A Country Town 4:22
Hands In Wood 4:06
It Never Gets Old 4:01
Do What The Good Book Says 3:32
All The Way Home 3:37
A Piece At A Time 3:49
The Deal 4:37
I’d Write You 3:27
Heartaches Moving In 2:59

For more than three decades, singer-songwriter
Daryl Mosley has applied his warm-as-country-sunshine voice and thoughtful
lyrics to a wealth of memorable material. Throughout the 1990s, he toured as lead
vocalist with much-celebrated bluegrass group The New Tradition then joined the
legendary Osborne Brothers in 2001. In 2010, Mosley formed The Farm Hands,
which quickly became one of the most awarded bands in bluegrass. Now, with The
Secret Of Life, he steps into the solo spotlight with a collection driven by
sincere, compelling storytelling built on a solid bluegrass foundation. A
native of Waverly, Tennessee, Mosley writes, sings and plays from a Southern
small-town perspective, as on the album’s sweet title track, which tells the
real-life story of Toad Smith, a local barber who dispenses sage advice on a
variety of subjects while cutting hair. Mosley’s gift for picturesque detail
shines through, whether he’s singing about love, as on the touching “It Never
Gets Old,” and “I’d Write You,” or of a father’s (and God’s) reassuring hand on
“All The Way Home.” Upping the tempo on the lively gospel-bluegrass tune, “Do
What The Good Book Says,” Mosley also revisits his past with fresh takes on a
few out-of-print New Tradition songs, including “Heartache’s Movin’ In” and the
poignant and timely “A Piece At A Time.” While familiar musical territory, as
enjoyable and well-executed as it all is, is explored in the above-mentioned
songs, the most striking and unusual twist in these tales comes toward the
album’s conclusion with “The Deal,” as the artist imagines a frank and haunting
conversation with the Devil, who promises to “legalize your pleasure” and
“legislate your sin,” offering a “grand buffet” of success and excess in
exchange for the soul. It’s a bold but worthy addition to this finely crafted
collection.