If you only know guitarist Eric Johnson by his tunes like “Cliffs Of Dover” and “Trademark”, this album is going to surprise you, but not disappoint. Yes, he holds back on his massive chops for the most part, and even singing with a voice that sounds a bit like Al Stewart and Paul Simon, delivering reflective lyrics on most of the thirteen songs. He’s accompanied by a simpatico team of Roscoe Beck-Kyle Brock/dr, Tom Brechtlein-Tommy Taylor/dr, James Fenner-Kevin Hall/perc, strings arranged by Stephen Barber and guests on voice, woodwinds and guitar while Johnson himself plays guitars both electric, acoustic, lap steel as well as piano and “Redneck Cowboy Kalimba”.
As for the instrumentals, Johnson lays down an opening “Hard Days Night” chord on the fun and boogie-ing “Chaldron’s Boat” while picking the strings like Tommy Emmanuel on the deft “Lake Travis” . Hints of early Led Zeppelin or late Yardbirds mix Middle Eastern guitar and percussion on “Black Waterside” and Johnson takes you to his parlor for a late night piano reflection during “For The Stars”.
His vocal pieces include rich electric guitar intros to the uptempo “Different Folks” and the lyrical “Golden way” while he tells a story with acoustic guitar in a Simon and Garfunkel vernacular for “Let A Friend Find You” and the minstrel’d “Divanae”. His piano work is personal yet confident as on a clever take of The Beatles’ “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” and the lyrical “Over The Moon”. All of the songs are like musical pieces of an autobiographical mosaic, showing the rich colors of Johnson’s musical heart. An album and gent both worth getting to know.