Tx Log

Cabin

 

 

Songs Play Me gets your attention from the first with the idea that it's the music in control, not the musician.  There are a treasured handful for which this concept applies, and this man is the real deal.  As you listen to these original songs, you can't help but compare them with some of the greats by Clark, Kristofferson, or Jennings, while the voice is very similar to Owen Temple (definitely a plus).  The message is complex, but the lyrics are simple, clear, and precise.  And the music just seems to flow and ooze from every direction until it envelops and soothes.  It's in control, deep in your soul, and you don't care that you got lost in the process.

The title track, "Songs Play Me", really invokes the essence of this project.  It defines the artist's background wherein everyone can strum a couple of guitar chords, it's no big deal, and there's nobody there to clap and cheer.  So you don't do it for the glory, only because you have a song in your soul that you share with those for whom you care.  But he found that living further up "north" anyone who plays belongs on the stage, doing it for a living.  Then it becomes just like another job, and that takes the muse out of the music.

Another track that I really enjoyed was "Silver Wings", arranged in a Woody Guthrie/Bob Dylan style.  It's the story about an old fighter pilot that went out the way all fighter jocks dream:

"On silver wings of an old war machine
Chasing his dreams to the ground
Now I'm standing here looking for a chute to come down
When I know he's still flying around
I know he's still flying around."

"The Ship Song" is an interesting metaphor of sailing-ships versus relation-ships.

"My word of ice are cutting deep, our hull has got a crack
The sea is pouring in, like the fire beneath your skin
I'd say I'm sorry for the things I have said,
But we cannot turn around,
This ship's going down
This relationship is going down.
?..
It's like we're in the toilet and we're circling around,
In our toilet paper vessel,
This shit's going down.
?..
No more time for questions, it's time to part our lips
We might sail again someday, but for now I'm jumping ship."

"The Ballad of Gordy Quist" is not a self-titled biography, but a touching tribute to Quist's grandfather, for whom he was named.  Quist's Swedish ancestors settled in the Midwest farmland.  His grandfather played college football, served in the military during the second world war, came home and raised a family.  One day, riding home on the school bus, Quist's father saw the wrecked family car and watched his father die in his mother's arms. Although Quist never met his grandfather:

"But I know his story and I'll tell it sad
Now I've got his name and I wear it proud
As I walk these fields that no man's plowed."

The entire CD is chocked full of these kinds of themes: gentle, sad, interesting, quietly uplifting and fully deserving of your careful attention.  This man has the touch and we'll be hearing more from him.  The CD is available at Waterloo Records (Austin), Cactus Music (Houston), Bill's Records (Dallas), http://www.lonestarmusic.com, and http://www.mytexasmusic.com.

Editor's Note:  Visit Gordy Quist's web site at http://www.gordyquist.com.  He plays the Austin/New Braunfels area regularly for those of you in that neck of woods.  He occasionally plays in the North Texas area, so if you haven't seen him and you get the chance, try to catch his act.

Written by Cheryl Arthur, September, 2005

E-mail me about this review

Read about TxLogCabin

All content © 2005 Miss Lana's Texicana Music Central. All rights reserved. No part of this site may be reproduced or copied without the permission of the site owner. This includes html code.