Jerry David DeCicca “Cardiac Country”

Deep thoughts and a serious health scare.

If this album’s title seems rather obscure, it turns out to be well-chosen. Feeling in good shape prolific singer/songwriter Jerry David DeCicca took only a couple of weeks to write these songs for his sixth solo album. Apart from listening to a lot of Don Williams, Lee Dorsey, and Bruce Cockburn while writing, DeCicca admits that the album lacked any evident theme. It was not until he had nearly finished writing that he was diagnosed with a serious heart condition that resulted in open heart surgery. Jerry David DeCicca had very much entered “Cardiac Country”. The following year or so was a time of gloomy reflection but now, as his mechanical valve beats away, he is learning to live with what he calls his “internal metronome”.

“Cardiac Country” is a lovely collection of introspection and observation, very much DeCicca’s stock in trade. His voice has a slightly quizzical tone as if he does not quite take all his thoughts at face value. Musically the record is sublime, the result of the immensely talented group he gathered to record pretty much live with his friend Joe Trevino at the Blue Cat Studios in San Antonio. Pedal steel features prominently courtesy of BJ Cole, who recorded and sent his contributions from his London home. DeCicca has wide connections, many via his production work for Ed Askew, Bob Martin and Ralph White. On his solo albums he has worked with David Hidalgo and Spooner Oldham and going back a bit he was the founder of The Black Swans. Otherwise, he provides rehabilitation for special needs students and adults.

BJ Cole’s luscious pedal steel eases the way into the album before DeCicca’s vocals take up pole position on ‘Long Distance Runner’. The Grateful Dead’s ‘Fire On The Mountain’ springs to mind but, “Long distance runner, breath with your stride” then “But your heart remains healthy for what lies ahead” speaks of DeCicca’s apparent robust health. But such breezy optimism is soon replaced by deep gloom. ‘Good Ghosts’ plunges into depths of despair as he seeks solace from his record collection, “I can hear voices/ Coming out of wooden boxes”. DeCicca pulls no punches when he describes the song that, “sits me down on my couch, getting drunk, while listening to records by dead musicians, soaking in their wisdom and heartache, side after side, until bedtime”. Pedal steel and organ sound as if they speak from the other side.

Sadness features heavily on the record. ‘Unlit Road’ is about a friend lost to alcohol dependence. To a funereal organ in the background and harmonising with Eve Searls DeCicca laments the loss of a close friend but does not judge. “You were carrying a heavy load/ Up and down/ An Unlit Road” could be a prayer. ‘My Friend’ mourns the loss of a once close friendship. A gentle tempo combines regret with a degree of hope that this friendship might be rekindled one day. For good measure, he imagines his own demise in ‘Mourning Locket’.

DeCicca takes a swipe at virtue signalling on ‘Frozen Hearts’ that could be from the Tom T Hall canon. His love of animals comes out in ‘Where Does My Empathy Go?’ as he asks himself why he eats meat. Although definitely on their side, the electric guitars sliding around a relentless rhythm feels like he is wrestling with his conscience about his relationship with other creatures. He is also given to crying as he acknowledges on the acoustic ‘Dripping Man’. Given to crying anywhere he bares his soul with commendable candour, “I’m a dripping man That’s what I am/ Don’t when these tears are gonna stop/ Baby, I’m just a man, I’m not a rock”. The tuba adds further pathos.

DeCicca wrote only one song on the album after his diagnosis and before his operation. At under two minutes, ‘Old Hat’ is short, but that only underlines the seriousness of his conditioning and very understandable apprehension of what lies ahead. Just him and his acoustic guitar with breath shortening he says it all with, “Everyone will tell you/ Look on the sunny side/ But all you see is darkness/ When it’s time to get off the ride”.

Despite a miserable time after surgery it is with huge relief to know David DeCicca remains on the ride. We must hope it is not long before his next album. In the meantime there is so much to “Cardiac Country” that it should beat away for a long time.