Fine, eclectic, debut album from Charleston-based, veteran musician.
Joel Timmons has been in the music business for over 20 years, as part of the band Sol Driven Train, however, “Psychedelic Surf Country” is his debut album. Recorded in Nashville, it’s been three years in the making. The record was produced by Maya de Vitry, who also contributes backing vocals, and with whom he frequently plays live.
The album commences with ‘Just A Man’ a true tale of pyromania from Timmons’ youth when his father used to burn a pyre consisting of Christmas trees to impress him and his younger brother. ‘Turbo’ is another tale from Timmons’ past. It’s about a sniffer dog used by the Tennessee Highway Patrol which soon discovers the band’s stash of marijuana. It’s a fun rock’n’roll number. One of the highlights of the album is Timmons’ take on the late Luke Bell’s ‘The Bullfighter’. It features some great pedal steel by Brett Resnick who played on the original recording. Timmons’ voice is complemented by Cary Ann Hearst’s beautiful vocal, it’s a combination that’s a match for Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris at their very best.
One of the threads that runs through this record is what it means to be a man in the 21st century. The rock out that is ‘Guitars, Guns, And Pickup Trucks’ was written with Timmons’ wife, Shelby Means who’s a Grammy winning bass player for her work with Molly Tuttle. The song is about Timmons’ father-in-law and starts off with a checklist of requirements that he expects any potential suitors to have, including ‘health insurance’, ‘a college degree’ and not being vegetarian. The chorus which states ‘You can’t have too much guitars, guns, and pickup trucks’ may be slightly tongue in cheek, however, Timmons’ describes his father-in-law as “a tough western dude with a gun safe, a collection of old trucks, and a deep love of bluegrass music”. It shouldn’t go unnoticed that there’s a serious point being made. In a world where people’s opinions can be more binary than ever, there are things that bring them together, in this case Gibson guitars and music.
‘Cottage By The Sea’ has a Hank Williams feel to it and harks back to simpler time of living on the coast. ‘Say It To My Face’ is a story of falling out and reconciliation with an old friend which has a slightly middle of the road feel to it. Loudon Wainwright III’s ‘The Swimming Song’ is the second cover version on the album, in which Timmons’ 1968 Ovation Thunderhead guitar was played through a Mesa Boogie amp, which gives the song a great surf rock sound. ‘East Nashville Cowboy’ see Timmons’ demonstrating his yodelling skills and the album concludes with the funky ‘Tryin’’.
This is a good debut album. Whether it’s “psychedelic” may be open to debate, but it’s certainly filled with sea and surf, which are combined with a country vibe, and just that amalgamation makes it worth a listen.
