'Wherever I lay my hat is my home' has long been a maxim for any self-respecting country troubadour. Texas-born, Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Jarrod Dickenson looks as well placed as anyone to exemplify the enduring appeal of this philosophy.
He's a dapper-dressed young man with a neatly trimmed rustic beard and an impressive line in headwear. He even filmed the video to the song Little Black Dress in a very well stocked JJ Hat Center in New York City.
This track is one of two, the other being Rosalie, to feature the formulaic line "you're the one for me" and falling back on over used phrases like this is an indication that Dickenson still needs to work to get his song writing craft on a par with his fashion sense.
"Time flies, especially with you" on I Remember June is another example of the slightly more original but no less banal lyrical content you find on too many of his songs.
He has some way to go before he reaches the heights of his musical heroes Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark or his favourite novelists F.Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck.
On the plus side, he has a warm, reassuring voice and obviously knows a good tune when he hears it. His songs are enhanced by the slick production work by Ryan Freeland and a fine backing band built from a wish list of top session musicians.
As you would expect from the album title, there are a fair amount of songs about going away and/or coming back again. These include Bravery about a woman who seeks Dutch courage from a bottle of gin as she waits for the return of her soldier husband who has "headed off to war".
Dickenson also shows sympathy towards the plight of those struggling to make ends meet as in The Northern Sea about the hard life of a trawler man and the self explanatory No Work For A Working Man (A Great Depression Song).
The album's key track, though, is The Ballad of the Lonesome Traveller where we find our hero on his way home with his eyes on the road, hands on the wheel and a "love gone awry" on his mind.
Jarrod Dickenson doesn't add much originality to these traveler's tales although the high standard of musicianship means the songs still manage to be quite pleasing on the ear.
