Nathan, You Had Me at Hello
http://www.nodepression.com/album-review/nathan-bell-blood-river
By Donna Mavity of Donna’s Americana
No Depression January 2014
Often, the first record you hear from an artist is like the first kiss from your
first love. Hard to top. Nothing that follows ever lives up to that initial
soul-siphoning experience.
So, when Tennessee singer-songwriter Nathan Bell sent me an advance
copy of his new release, ‘Blood Like a River, ‘ I wondered about this ‘first
kiss’ theory I have of troubadours and their tunes.
I was introduced to Bell when a friend passed-on a copy of his 2011 release,
Black Crow Blue. I liked it so much that I named it to my ‘Best of’ list on
my radio show, ‘Donna’s Americana Radio Hour.’
But from the first words of ‘Blood’s’ opening track, “Names,” the ‘first kiss’
theory was shot to hell.
In movie-speak, like Renee Zellweger to Tom Cruise’s Jerry Maguire,
Nathan, you had me at ‘hello.’
With the heart of a father, a brother, and a son, ‘Names’ tells the stories of
three service men and women who have become ‘just a name’, ‘a candle in
my mother’s hand’, as their lives are cut short and their dreams left unlived.
‘You don’t know the things I’ve done…and will never do…for I am just a
name to you…”
I have never heard a more powerful tribute to those who have become both
instruments of and victims of war.
The album is all Bell. Every instrument is skillfully played by him, all songs
from his pen. His is the only voice, a satisfying blend of gruff masculinity
and a sensitivity you may not expect to find there. (Think James
McMurtry or Grant Peeples meets Sam Baker.) Similarly, his songs are a
mix of intriguing introspection and insightful observation of those around
him, their heartaches, confusion, and desires.
Listen to the record and you’ll hear stories of an armed robber whose
victim sees into his soul (Trigger), gay lovers who are finally wed (Really,
Truly), and the thoughts of those on opposing sides of an adoption case
(Fathers and Mothers). And then there are the songs whose reality is so
palpable that they must be autobiographical, though one never knows with
such a skillful storyteller as Bell.
He sings of a father’s heart smitten by a daughter following his muse (She
Sang the Blue Kentucky Girl), and the complicated emotions and
experiences that bind one human being to another (Blood Like a River.)
Several songs are musings on aging, and Bell’s thoughts are reassuring:
“I’m angry I won’t get to do this again, but goddamn, I’m thankful too….”
(Fade Out)
Blood Like a River is a sophomore release that takes us deeper into the
heart of a gifted and thought-provoking songwriter. Not one song
disappoints. The album captures, and compels one to listen from beginning
to end.
So Nathan, thanks for blowing my theory. Some songwriters take you with
them wherever they go. And don’t worry---in your own words (The
Snowman), your motor’s still running… strong …
Listen to the record. You’ll know what I’m talking about.
http://www.nodepression.com/album-review/nathan-bell-blood-river
By Donna Mavity of Donna’s Americana
No Depression January 2014
Often, the first record you hear from an artist is like the first kiss from your
first love. Hard to top. Nothing that follows ever lives up to that initial
soul-siphoning experience.
So, when Tennessee singer-songwriter Nathan Bell sent me an advance
copy of his new release, ‘Blood Like a River, ‘ I wondered about this ‘first
kiss’ theory I have of troubadours and their tunes.
I was introduced to Bell when a friend passed-on a copy of his 2011 release,
Black Crow Blue. I liked it so much that I named it to my ‘Best of’ list on
my radio show, ‘Donna’s Americana Radio Hour.’
But from the first words of ‘Blood’s’ opening track, “Names,” the ‘first kiss’
theory was shot to hell.
In movie-speak, like Renee Zellweger to Tom Cruise’s Jerry Maguire,
Nathan, you had me at ‘hello.’
With the heart of a father, a brother, and a son, ‘Names’ tells the stories of
three service men and women who have become ‘just a name’, ‘a candle in
my mother’s hand’, as their lives are cut short and their dreams left unlived.
‘You don’t know the things I’ve done…and will never do…for I am just a
name to you…”
I have never heard a more powerful tribute to those who have become both
instruments of and victims of war.
The album is all Bell. Every instrument is skillfully played by him, all songs
from his pen. His is the only voice, a satisfying blend of gruff masculinity
and a sensitivity you may not expect to find there. (Think James
McMurtry or Grant Peeples meets Sam Baker.) Similarly, his songs are a
mix of intriguing introspection and insightful observation of those around
him, their heartaches, confusion, and desires.
Listen to the record and you’ll hear stories of an armed robber whose
victim sees into his soul (Trigger), gay lovers who are finally wed (Really,
Truly), and the thoughts of those on opposing sides of an adoption case
(Fathers and Mothers). And then there are the songs whose reality is so
palpable that they must be autobiographical, though one never knows with
such a skillful storyteller as Bell.
He sings of a father’s heart smitten by a daughter following his muse (She
Sang the Blue Kentucky Girl), and the complicated emotions and
experiences that bind one human being to another (Blood Like a River.)
Several songs are musings on aging, and Bell’s thoughts are reassuring:
“I’m angry I won’t get to do this again, but goddamn, I’m thankful too….”
(Fade Out)
Blood Like a River is a sophomore release that takes us deeper into the
heart of a gifted and thought-provoking songwriter. Not one song
disappoints. The album captures, and compels one to listen from beginning
to end.
So Nathan, thanks for blowing my theory. Some songwriters take you with
them wherever they go. And don’t worry---in your own words (The
Snowman), your motor’s still running… strong …
Listen to the record. You’ll know what I’m talking about.