This is Stuart McNair's third full length Cd, being preceded by Growing a Garden and Building a Fire. He is a multi-instrumentalist from Birmingham, Alabama who plays what he calls "a gumbo of Country, Bluegrass, Zydeco and Southern Rock"; a blend of styles that can be safely lumped under the Americana label.
I jotted down the words solid and earthy as I listened, alongside less positive adjectives like simplistic and predictable.
It is peppered with banal observations like "the universe is a really big place"(Love And Affection) and "I hope there's a better way and I hope it won't be long" (Underground Song) which give notice that McNair is no Zimmerman when it comes to song writing.
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He approaches worthy themes of fidelity, faith and freedom using platitudes rather than poetry. This is fine for sing-a-long tunes like Somewhere In The Middle or Out Of Your Mind but gets a bit laboured when tackling issues like green awareness (Ways Of Nature) or the plight of New Orleans (Make Levees, Not War).
He steers clear of politics to the point that the Don't Drop The Bomb plea is made on the grounds that he has kids and suggests that faith in Jesus holds the cure (Walking With Jesus). I beg to differ.
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