Self issued (label)
01 April 2013 (released)
30 March 2013
Jarrod Dickenson is an old fashioned singer-songwriter in the classic style. This will be instantly appealing to fans of James Taylor or Gram Parsons or for that matter, The Band.
He has touches of folk music in his songs as well as a great ear for melody and emotion and sings with a gentle but insistent voice and he is backed up by some superb musicians but the real strength here is in the songs – 12 gems.
He has backing from the likes of Greg Leisz on lap steel and pedal steel, David Piltch on bass, keys from Jebin Bruni and drums courtesy of Sebastian Aymanns who, between them, have appeared on over a dozen Gold and Platinum albums and he is produced by triple Grammy winner Ryan Freeland – these guys have a reputation and do not waste it on average musicians.
He has been located in Nashville, LA, London and New York City and I would say that his music reflects the learnings from all those cities. He sings from the heart and the songs all have a personal feel to them, none more than the lovely ‘Ballad of the Lonesome Traveller’.
I adore the folky feel of ‘The Northern Sea’ and the shimmering delight of ‘Little Black Dress’ with its smoky and almost jazz-like feel is a joy but the number that stands out and gets replayed time after time is ‘The Walking Bridge’ – on the face of it a simple number but with superb melancholic cello from Richard Dodd and a vocal that approaches Nick Drake in its changes in tone and tempo.
This is a very talented songwriter and he naturally attracts the quality of musician that allow his songs to come off at their best.
Essential listening in my opinion.
