Every once in a while, an artist arrives fully formed with a perfect debut. This is Lance Cowen.
Cowen has worked for years as a successful and respected Nashville publicist for a wide range of artists and songwriters. He's also written songs on his own and with writing partners, some of which have been recorded by others. And now, in his sixties, we get his first record.
And it is just beautiful. Cowen has a high tenor reminiscent of John Denver (without the treacle) and he is surrounded by a crew of great musicians: Sam Bush (mandolin), Pat Flynn and Mark Elliot (guitars), Andrea Zonn (violin), Pat McInerney (drums), Dave Pomeroy and Jay Turner (bass), Dan Dugmore (pedal steel, dobro, piano), Jim Hoke (accordion) and Julie Lee (vocals). No less than six seasoned producers would seem unlikely to produce a record with a unified sound, but that is exactly what we get.
The sound of the record recalls the late Guy Clark's records. Acoustic instruments, deceptively spare arrangements, clean recording, all with Cowen's expressive voice up front that makes these gems seem like the band is playing live in your living room.
And then there's the songs. Cowen combines the wit and insight of Guy Clark and John Prine, the ability to capture the emotional core like Jackson Browne, and the portraiture of a fine painter. The portraits are some of the highlights. Little Johnny Pierce captures a sixties peace lover that lawnmowers a peace sign into the front yard, Currently Red is a sweetly sentimental biography of a quirky journalist, and Mr. Ben McGhee follows a charming older man into his last chapter.
A trainman more at home on the tracks than anywhere else features in Sound Of My Home. A sweetly kind and humorous portrait of a hoarder is A Place For Everything. So Far, So Good sounds like an autobiography of the solo artist on the road.
And then he writes some beautiful songs of love, heartbreak, and loss. This Heart Of Mine is a perfect song of heartache, and For You is a sweet ballad that is just breathtaking and includes a reference to "the shade of the family tree" that only a great lyricist could write. The Letter (sung by Julie Lee in a fabulous cameo) is a sad lament for a fading long distance relationship.
Finally, Fields Of Freedom is one of the most poignant songs of war I have ever heard. The chorus goes like this: She said “Freedom I feel, It’s the flowers in the field, That no one marches over. Here in the sunlight of a German afternoon, I found a field of flowers in full bloom”.
Sam Bush and Dan Dugmore add color and beauty to everything they touch. They are clearly inspired by Cowen's melodies, which sometimes sound familiar (but not stolen), like a old worn coat.
Every once in a while, an artist arrives fully formed with a perfect debut.
