Jon Dee Graham
Album:
Full
Freedom • http://www.jondeegraham.com
Jon Dee Graham’s music career began with The Skunks, one of Austin’s earliest punk groups. But he might be best known as a member of The True Believers, where he served as one third of the group’s guitar assault along with the brothers Escovedo. When The Truebs split, he did time guitar-slinging as side man for the likes of John Doe, Michelle Shocked and Kelly Willis.
Five records into his solo career finds Graham on Texas label Freedom Records, making an album in three days. Not that the music suffered from the pace; to the contrary, Graham’s lyrics portray a gruff optimism that takes everything in stride – kinda like your uncle who did time in Viet Nam so nowadays next to nothing fazes him. He’s a hardass with a heart of gold. In one hard-charging lament he dares to rhyme “Bonaparte” with “blown apart.” In another tune, he’s calling home with the warning his phone-card minutes are about to expire. Graham refers to himself as “so full of holes he whistles when the wind blows” and “the architect of this brilliant mess” but is settled enough to observe the horizontal sunlight breaking through the trees. On “Tie A Knot,” a doomed sea chanty, he pulls all his strengths together – the lyrical poetry he sneaks into his storytelling and the muscular guitar tone he has mastered. To appreciate this you really need to witness him live, but Full is a fine representation.
COMMENTS
Be the first one to comment; use the form below!