Tom Guerra: “Sudden Signs of Grace” Review, by Nancy Foster

Text (c) Nancy Foster / FFanzeen, 2020

Introduction (c) Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen

The following is a guest review of the new album by New England-based musician Tom Guerra, written by Nancy Foster. – RBF, 2020.

Tom Guerra

Sudden Signs of Grace

Casa Del Soul Records

www.tomguerra.com

Sudden Signs of Grace is the fourth solo album by guitarist/songwriter Tom Guerra. It follows American Garden in 2018, Trampling out the Vintage in 2016, and All of the Above in 2014. Guerra is also known as a collaborator of the world’s greatest band, The Yardbirds and for his tastefully name rock‘n’roll band, The Mambo Sons.

“It’s All In The Skies” is a singer/songwriter plus alternative country amalgam like Tom Petty writing for Old 97s. There is something about the lovely, wistful vibe that brings the Hummingbird Syndicate to mind. In fact, when the quarantine lifts, Jon Macey and Tom Guerra should book a show or tour together.

“Lonely No More” is an uplifting ballad about “being back amongst the living.” Guerra says in the liner notes: “Everybody starts out lonely, and with luck and grace, we find ourselves, and then each other.” Matt Zeiner paints this number with warm washes of color, using piano and Hammond organ.

As far as “Lover’s Time,” Guerra and I aren’t on the same page – we are on the same word! I have always thought a guitar – especially a twelve-string guitar – and a male voice were beauty personified. Guerra says that he has “always enjoyed twelve-string, poppy tunes,” like similar tunes in his songbook, “Here’s Tomorrow” and “Tell The World.” For me, this is in a Dave Edmunds/Nick Lowe mode: multi-layered harmonies and driving power chords on a pleasant wave of nostalgia, all delivered anthemically.

“Sudden Signs Of Grace,” the title track, features Kenny Aaronson on fretless bass. If Aaronson’s name sounds familiar, it may because of his association with Bob Dylan and George Harrison. Guerra wrote this after a walk in the woods on New Year’s Day. It is delivered in a world music mode.

When Guerra heard Eddie Money was ill, he recorded one of his favorites by Money and sent it to him. “Gimme Some Water” takes me back to high school days when the Southern Rhythm and Blues of the Allman Brother ruled the radio. I am hearing a pastiche that includes The Eagles, Jackson Brown, and Steve Miller.

“The Greatest Show On Earth” was inspired by a Syd Barrett quote: “I’ve got a very irregular head.” Something about the line, “Welcome to the greatest show on earth!,” is deflating. Guerra, here and throughout this recording, captures happy/sad ideas and emotions. That dichotomy sums up our conflicted times. Being on the edge of a cliff is exhilarating because the joy of life is the strongest at the moment when it is all at the most risk of being ripped away.

“Just Like The Sun” is a thirty-year-old lyric that Guerra discovered and resurrected to put to music. It features Matt Zeiner and Morgan Fisher of Mott The Hoople and Queen on keyboards, giving the song an exalted, hymn-like power. Aaronson crafted the strings and string arrangements on “Inspiration Memories,” which Guerra dedicates to his father. The sense of the weight of the passage of time is emphasized intermittently through percussive sounds that represent a ticking clock. (Or maybe a ticking bomb considering our current political landscape!)

“Down The Farm” sounds like an unholy union of Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis. A Rainbow Coalition collaboration on an alternative plane. It is transporting to hear “Streets Of Baltimore.” Whether you are Team Bare or Team Parsons, Guerra delivers the best musical theater since Scott Walker took Jacques Brel to a whole new level with “Amsterdam” and “My Death.” I can’t help but envision the angel wings of Chet Atkins embracing Guerra and the musical soulmates here. “The Sleep Song” closes this bittersweet, nuanced recording with a cool instrumental that is both mellow and majestic.

Guest CD Reviews by Nancy Neon

Text by Nancy Neon / FFanzeen, 2018

Images from the Internet

Michael J. Roy

The Bright Side

https://michaeljroy.hearnow.com/

Roy opens with a track called "The End." So, for Roy, the end actually becomes a beginning with a new recording for 2018. The song has a T-Rex feel. Lyrically, Roy seems to be singing about a relationship, be it romantic or creative, that teetered on the precipice of greatness only to implode. "Same Old Thing" has a cool, downbeat feeling. Musically and vocally, it will turn those on who dig Jakob Dylan or Tom Petty. It is a powerful song of regret that highlights what I have always called Roy's painterly style of guitar playing. "Impossible Ways” is vocally strong with a ‘60s pop feel. "Mr. Berserk" is someone we all know; he tries to come off as if he has it all under control, but blows up like a grenade with any or no provocation. These are some of Roy's best lyrics, where he sings of "Mr. Berserk" being followed around by a shadow that cannot be escaped. "Moving to L.A." is something I can relate to after a bad fall on the ice in Boston last winter. The track has a lovely vocal, melody, and arrangement. The music and lyrics touch the listener with an amalgam of wistfulness and wanderlust: "I can't believe/I've stayed here so long/It makes no sense/Once the summer's gone/It seems I don't know/Why I'm here at all/And I can hear that balmy West Coast call." "Point Of No Return" has a Bob Dylan/Tom Petty style vocal and overall vibe. "All The Time That Never Was" has a feeling of sadness and regret over real or perceived unrealized potential. Roy describes it as "pining for things that you know are never going to happen." This concept has resonance for me as I have been troubled by my own sense of unrealized potential. “Thin Air" has the message of striking back and ultimately surviving creatively against the threat of obsolescence. "A Reason to Live" speaks of the renewal of hope and life in the face of the increasing pressure of time and mortality. This track is fast paced, energetic, and the catchiest of the bunch along with the closer, "The Bright Side." As with "A Reason to Live," on "World Run Wild," Roy's musical mojo is at full force as he sings" My mind is on fire." So is his guitar! "The Bright Side" is a shimmering, jingle jangle power pop track in a Byrds/Dwight Twilley Band vein. When I spoke to Roy about the recording, I mentioned that I always thought he was the George Harrison of the Boston-based bands Fox Pass and Tom Dickie and the Desires. Roy showed he understood what I meant by responding by saying "dark horse." (In addition to the dictionary definition, Dark Horse was Harrison's record label.) The Bright Side is a powerful follow up to Roy's 2015 release Eclectricity.

Tom Guerra

American Garden

www.tomguerra.com/

The song "Nevermore" opens this recording with power chord/riff stylings in a classic rock vein. Guerra's voice is a combination of approachability, vulnerability, and moxy. "Goodbye to Yesterday" was written by Guerra and bassist Kenny Aaronson of The Yardbirds. This song has elements of blues, garage rock in a Sonics vein, and ‘60s pop-oriented harmonies. "Walls" is a Tom Petty number that Guerra recorded soon after Petty's death. The vocal is downbeat and the arrangement is faithful to Petty's style. "Jack for Joe" is Guerra's homage to his former roommate/manager, Joe Polito, who died about 30 years ago. Guerra described Polito as having "lived life at full-throttle racing speed." Guerra expresses a lingering fondness for his halcyon days while asking “where can we go now that we can't go home again?" "Blood on the Rising Sun" was written after the Charlottesville riots and features Jon Butcher on lead guitar. Guerra uses a Dylan/Petty style vocal to create a 21st century protest song that ends with the chant "hate cannot replace us." "Family of One" and "Lyin' King" are two more Guerra/Aaronson collaborations. These were intended for inclusion on a Jack Douglas-produced Yardbirds album – a concept that was sadly shelved. The bridge "Now that tomorrow is here at last" is a line Guerra intended as response to the Yardbirds' "Shapes of Things." "The Lyin' King" has blues harp and a garage rock-oriented feel. "The Story" is a song Guerra was moved by after hearing Brandi Carlile's version. Here Guerra's voice sounds like he is broken but still fighting to summon up faith and strength to strive for love. "Meet Me at the Bottom of the Glass" is a piano/vocal arrangement with Morgan Fisher of Mott the Hoople on keyboards. Like "Jack for Joe," it is about Guerra's friend who was lost to alcoholism. The closer, "American Garden," is thematically a pastiche of three Vietnam veterans with whom Guerra had conversations about their war experiences. The title track has an Apocalypse Now vibe with its psychedelic feel, distorted vocals, and helicopter sounds. The pop rock section of the song juxtaposed against the more ominous elements of “American Garden” highlight the dichotomy of the relative innocence of pre-Vietnam War versus the lost idealism of the post-War period. The image of the "American Garden" is all the more startling when you realize Arlington cemetery is one interpretation of the album title. This is Guerra's third solo recording. Also check out his band, The Mambo Sons.