Dan Colehour
Straight to the highway
Acoustic Disc – 58
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This disc opens with a song called Quarry Town, etches picture into the mind of the gritty stone quarries in Vermont and the miners that labored to pull the stone from the earth, leaving gaping scars ripped into the idyllic landscape. The grittiness and sweat of hard physical labor, but also those that also enjoyed doing a job well and working hard. The rest of the disc keeps up the strength displayed on the first cut. This is that heartland of muscular rock and strong sincere songs that tumble from the hard work and toil of Iowa, the root of this singer/songwriter sweat soaked songs. Sonically he owes a debt to Bruce Springsteen, his songs have similar musical roots and are based in the rhythms that the Boss rocked to. He also has that strong lyrical story base that is reminiscent of the Texas singer/songwriters that have made such a definite mark on Americana Music; people such as Butch Hancock, Joe Ely, and Billy Joe Shaver, he isn’t up in that pantheon yet but...
This is an exceptionally strong debut disc. He wrote or co-wrote each of the ten songs that grace this disc. They are strong songs that reflect a solid and strong foundation in good storytelling tradition. The musicianship on the disc goes solidly with the muscular feel of the songs. The co-producers, David Grissom and Mike McCarthy have put together a stellar band the adds even more to the solid feel of the disc. On guitars you have Colehour, David Grissom and Kenny Greenberg; keyboards who else but Chuck Leavell and John Hobbs, bass duties Glenn Worf and Jimm Lee Sloas, these provide that core strength that holds all the rest together. This is a solid new singer/songwriter who isn’t afraid to flex and let it all out, look for a lot more from this person.