Rock Minutes

Here’s the deal about Edwin McCain, if all you know is “I’ll Be” then you don’t know Edwin McCain. In fact, on many occasions he has stated, that one song has ruined his image if not his career. Edwin is much more of a singer-songwriter in the Americana genre then a balladeer. The Album “The Austin Session” is a real grass roots album with heart, emotion, and one that paints a picture of the America we live in from coast to coast.

If you are a fan of true middle America-grass roots rock and roll, you will really love Edwin McCain’s true artistic side. Even though he is from South Carolina, Edwin McCain has a real firm grip on Middle America, with a Midwestern sensibility. Most casual fans no little about Edwin’s body of work in this genre, but if you are a fan on Americana, this is an album, and an artist, you will really enjoy.

The album starts out with Let It Slide. It’s a song in the traditional Americana chord styling in the Mellencamp, John Prine, or Tracy Chapman way. It’s a song about the difficulties of living in a lower-middle class world and surrounded by a lower-middle class mentality. It’s a song about trying to not getting caught up in little town drama and those petty issues that don’t really matter but tend to plague lower class life… Edwin’s vision for this song is; when life is tough you need to let it slide.

This song sets the album up for its deep heart felt messages and its classic acoustic styling. Actually, the entire album is set up by an acoustic sound; there is no electricity on this album. Each song deals with heartache, friendship, and life while expressing these sentiments through stories of racial tension, forbidden love, and everyday situations.

The second song on this album is “Go Be Young”. The song is sung from the perspective of an old man telling a young person to live life to the fullest while you still can… and not to waste it like he did. There is a lot of regret in this song. The narrator of the song says, “Don’t end up like me.” It’s a great song of emotional depth, and one of the anchors of the album.

Track 5 is “Sorry to a Friend” is a re-make of an Edwin McCain original but this time, all acoustic. This is a great version if this song. To me, this is a top 100 song of all time. It’s a song about the criticalness of time in life. Sometimes everything can be perfect except for the timing and it throws everything else off. It’s a deadly-heartfelt song and hits you right in the gut every time you hear it. If you have ever had that one great true love but life and love just never seemed to come together, you will get this song.

Another highlight of this album is a remake of Dire Straits Romeo and Juliet. Mark Knopfler is an amazing musician and song writer. In some respects he reminds me of a poor man’s Bob Dylan. Because he is a pure poet and wordsmith and plays a wickedly nasty guitar medley, but his songs always sound better and fuller when someone else sings them. This remake by Edwin McCain is no different. This is a fantastic remake that is much more soulful than the original. You can really feel the pain in this song, through the lyrics as well as Edwin McCain’s styling vocally.

Overall this is a really good album. And I think it is important you to know the real artist and not the “radio” artist, who in this case, are very different. I think this is a great album to get into Edwin McCain; if all you know is I’ll Be. This album may be, from start to finish, the best album Edwin has ever recorded. It has a smattering of his best stuff from tip to top and I think you will find the real artist that McCain is in this masterpiece.

Later,

Aaron

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