In 2003, Caleb Miles released DEPTH, featuring “spontaneous instrumental compositions†in which arrangements were constructed as they were being recorded, with prior instruments suggesting subsequent musical ingredients. The resulting cd takes you on a richly textured sonic adventure, and displays Caleb’s formidable multi-instrumental talents.
His new cd, BRICKYARD ROAD, is a return to a more conventional approach: write songs, arrange them, and record them. The catch being that, as with DEPTH, all the instruments (drums, bass, piano, organ, mandolin, banjo, pedal-steel, and all varieties of guitar) are performed solely by Caleb, and this time there are vocals as well!
While gathered from a wide range of times and places, the songs on BRICKYARD ROAD share in their lyric content a poignant comment on the “American Ethosâ€, that if one stays true to one’s dream all things good will come of it. While a fortunate few do indeed “follow their dreams†to success, fame, or ultimate contentment, many more come to confront a dead-end, a cul-de-sac: some turn around and start over in a different direction, others merely give up; most must finally admit their “dreams†somehow got lost along the way, as they succumbed to the demands of survival: working to pay bills, providing for children, the swift disappearance of youth, the disappointment of a mundane existence. Doors that open for some remain closed to others, not to mention the tragic derailments and desperate circumstances that render “the dream†completely irrelevant in countless people’s lives.
The songs that comprise BRICKYARD ROAD address this issue by approaching it from many angles, from the ne’er-do-well character of “Trouble†(“tried to build a fire/burned his hand in the flameâ€) to the discouraged hero in “Honest Trade†(“maybe it’s time to curb my expectations/unpack my blues where others had it madeâ€). “Perseverance†confronts the situation head-on, the singer sacrificing everything to climb “destiny’s mountain†only to find, once the summit is reached, “yet another great mountain, and behind that still yet anotherâ€.
Along the way we meet an unfortunate naif who is hanged for killing his sweetheart’s lover (“Murder Balladâ€), and a “Sad Old Rock’n’Roller†who “plays guitar at the corner bar/for free beer and spare changeâ€. The album resolves with “Rambling Roadâ€, which states simply that if you are looking for wealth, fame, true love, or enlightenment, you’d best steer clear of the twisted path the singer travels…â€there’s no love on this lonely road/that leads nowhereâ€.
Yet perhaps it is the road itself, rather than the goal of our “dreamâ€, that provides the answer to this quest for fulfillment. Once we put aside the search for something beyond ourselves for salvation, redemption, contentment, happiness, prosperity…maybe then we find those very things were in our knapsack all along, ready to be discovered at any point along the journey. “I’ve not found my one true love/wealth or fame I’ve none/but I’ve walked this endless road/I still ain’t doneâ€. Perhaps life is what it is, and the obsessive searching for something “more†only obscures the fact that life is but a precious collection of moments, good and bad, to be savored for the experience of them rather than measured against the yardstick of society’s implied expectations.
All of this is comfortably contained within the framework of solid, well-crafted songs. There are a couple country-tinged tunes replete with pedal-steel and twanging Telecasters, bluesy songs with suitably tasteful
work-outs on electric and acoustic guitar, and plenty of rootsy rock’n’roll drawn from the deep well of America’s rich musical heritage…all impeccably performed by Caleb Miles and sung in his “sandpaper angel†voice. BRICKYARD ROAD is good fun to listen to as well as providing food for thought for the philosophically peckish. Enjoy!
Track List:
1. Trouble
2. Flood
3. Murder Ballad
4. Honest Trade
5. Just Rewards
6. Angeline
7. Sad Old Rock'n'roller
8. Tell Tale Blues
9. The Splinter & the Rail
10. Perseverance
11. Rambling Road
Suggested CDs:Other Genres:
His new cd, BRICKYARD ROAD, is a return to a more conventional approach: write songs, arrange them, and record them. The catch being that, as with DEPTH, all the instruments (drums, bass, piano, organ, mandolin, banjo, pedal-steel, and all varieties of guitar) are performed solely by Caleb, and this time there are vocals as well!
While gathered from a wide range of times and places, the songs on BRICKYARD ROAD share in their lyric content a poignant comment on the “American Ethosâ€, that if one stays true to one’s dream all things good will come of it. While a fortunate few do indeed “follow their dreams†to success, fame, or ultimate contentment, many more come to confront a dead-end, a cul-de-sac: some turn around and start over in a different direction, others merely give up; most must finally admit their “dreams†somehow got lost along the way, as they succumbed to the demands of survival: working to pay bills, providing for children, the swift disappearance of youth, the disappointment of a mundane existence. Doors that open for some remain closed to others, not to mention the tragic derailments and desperate circumstances that render “the dream†completely irrelevant in countless people’s lives.
The songs that comprise BRICKYARD ROAD address this issue by approaching it from many angles, from the ne’er-do-well character of “Trouble†(“tried to build a fire/burned his hand in the flameâ€) to the discouraged hero in “Honest Trade†(“maybe it’s time to curb my expectations/unpack my blues where others had it madeâ€). “Perseverance†confronts the situation head-on, the singer sacrificing everything to climb “destiny’s mountain†only to find, once the summit is reached, “yet another great mountain, and behind that still yet anotherâ€.
Along the way we meet an unfortunate naif who is hanged for killing his sweetheart’s lover (“Murder Balladâ€), and a “Sad Old Rock’n’Roller†who “plays guitar at the corner bar/for free beer and spare changeâ€. The album resolves with “Rambling Roadâ€, which states simply that if you are looking for wealth, fame, true love, or enlightenment, you’d best steer clear of the twisted path the singer travels…â€there’s no love on this lonely road/that leads nowhereâ€.
Yet perhaps it is the road itself, rather than the goal of our “dreamâ€, that provides the answer to this quest for fulfillment. Once we put aside the search for something beyond ourselves for salvation, redemption, contentment, happiness, prosperity…maybe then we find those very things were in our knapsack all along, ready to be discovered at any point along the journey. “I’ve not found my one true love/wealth or fame I’ve none/but I’ve walked this endless road/I still ain’t doneâ€. Perhaps life is what it is, and the obsessive searching for something “more†only obscures the fact that life is but a precious collection of moments, good and bad, to be savored for the experience of them rather than measured against the yardstick of society’s implied expectations.
All of this is comfortably contained within the framework of solid, well-crafted songs. There are a couple country-tinged tunes replete with pedal-steel and twanging Telecasters, bluesy songs with suitably tasteful
work-outs on electric and acoustic guitar, and plenty of rootsy rock’n’roll drawn from the deep well of America’s rich musical heritage…all impeccably performed by Caleb Miles and sung in his “sandpaper angel†voice. BRICKYARD ROAD is good fun to listen to as well as providing food for thought for the philosophically peckish. Enjoy!
Track List:
1. Trouble
2. Flood
3. Murder Ballad
4. Honest Trade
5. Just Rewards
6. Angeline
7. Sad Old Rock'n'roller
8. Tell Tale Blues
9. The Splinter & the Rail
10. Perseverance
11. Rambling Road
Suggested CDs:Other Genres:
- ROCK: Roots Rock
- ROCK: Americana
- TYPE: VOCAL