EDWIN TIBBALS
Western World
Blowin’
Smoke All Night – Whine About Your Wining – Walk Together – Born To
Live in Hell – A Flare In Distress – Sydney – To See You Laugh – Doctor –
Live In A Western – I Don’t Know You – California Once
This
is album number two that I’ve reviewed for Edwin Tibbals. He had a
nice album out last year “Hell Bender” that I thought the Rural Roots
Music Commission would like, however they thought it has to be more
‘country’ than I thought it was. This time Edwin has added more
‘country’ to his creations. First song out of the chute is very Johnny
Paycheck in style, right down to good lyrics and good vocals. This song
starts out with interesting lyrics too… “You don’t hear them good old
truck drivin’ songs anymore.” Well, you get the picture, Edwin Tibbals
is moving a lot closer to good classic country music. He made sure it
was heading in the right direction, using no less than two different
steel players on this album. N. Hamlet, and Ken Appleton, both
excellent musicians. Yes, he put the fiddle back in the music too,
using M. Ala, a good fiddler to boot. He cut this excellent album in
Bakersfield, California, and that Buck Owens/Merle Haggard style shines
through pretty darn good to me. Edwin wrote all the songs, and I
believe he’s found his niche. B. Bannister is on bass; K. Appleton also
plays guitar and mandolin beside steel; C. Garasa is on drums; N.
Claunch is on piano and backing vocals; B. Lonbeck is on tenor guitar.
It’s engineered and mixed in typical Bakersfield style and sound. I
don’t see how Edwin can miss on this one, it’s without a doubt one of
the best classic country ones I’ve heard in a long time. It’s also
early in the year for the Rural Roots folks, but I’m determined to see
they keep this one in the running, even if it takes a year to do that.
Edwin has a terrific ‘hold’ in his writing that demonstrates what it is
like living on planet earth these days. Everything seems topsy turvy
and Edwin has a way to put that philosophy into words easy to
understand. It’s all about ‘feelings’ and he definitely has that in his
work. In his song “Doctor” I feel definite remembrance of Mel Tillis
and a ‘hook’ with Ray Stevens. Edwin Tibbals is going to be a ‘country’
artist that will have to be dealt with, whether Nashville likes it or
not. Nashville already knows it’s losing money on today’s
‘pretend-country’ artists, they HAVE to make a change. The next
generation of country artists that have a country background are
definitely going to be the ones that will hold the genre on course.
Edwin Tibbals is one of those guys. A writer, a musician, a vocalist, a
dedicated artist is who he is. He closes his album with a definite
‘political’ statement on his song “California.” You’ll need to listen
to that one yourself, it’s a remarkable representation of what is
happening in America today. Edwin says it well… “To me that’s just
further proof that the farther from the country the more distant the
truth.” Wow, give it to this young man, he’s on the right road.
www.music-savers.com – RECORD REVIEW BY BOB EVERHART, President, National Traditional Country Music Association for Country Music News International Magazine & Radio Show