NYC-based singer-songwriter Charles Ellsworth is classified as “refined alt-country” which means that all the rough edges are carefully smoothed-down.
Check shirts, blue jeans and cowboy hats are the appropriate gear for the right listening experience.
It helps to be American too.
Ellsworth says of the album: “it’s about trying to maintain your humanity through the depraved insanity of modern life”.
He sings of working hard and struggling to make ends meet but the overall tone is far from downbeat.
On If They Let Me Choose Forever he reminisces about being 18 again driving around town in a beat-up truck
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On the storming finale If I could talk to God he rails against religion, “pundits and capitalists” so at least his quest for truth does not involve siding with bible-bashers and rednecks.
It all chugs along quite effectively without making much of a lasting impression.
Charles Ellsworth’s website
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