Kneaded and Thrown
Roscoe
Selley is one of those fortunate souls who actually believe in the power of
music to bring love and peace into the mix of this crazy world. Just ask
Madeline Albright, former Secretary of state for the hairy palmed, love doctor
himself President Bill Clinton. Selley was 32 years old before he played one
note in public. His father played campfire harp when the family took camping
trips to fake wilderness roads. It struck a chord for young Roscoe who managed
to mess with the harmonica when he was just a whippersnapper. He wasn’t serious
about it but it filled a need, memories function well in that regard; and it
was Robert Barkley’s radio show out of Central Michigan that inspired Roscoe to
find out what the buzz was all about. He learned about Little Walter, Junior
Wells and other prominent bluesmen. He was a true music lover who listened to
James Taylor, Jackson Browne and Paul Simon before he dedicated his emerging
interest in the blues. He developed his craft by playing in bars and clubs,
learning funky blues, rock & roll and folk music. He was a member of Blues Controversy, an
incredible horn-based band with incredible lead singers, first with Sharrie
Williams and then with Caitlin Berry. When that came to an untimely end, Roscoe
joined forces with Michael and Scott Robertson, a three piece with incredible
harmonies that eventually added bass player Keith Carolan and a full time
drummer. The result was breathtaking. They called themselves Maybe August. They
developed a back lot storyline that included actress Halle Berry. I bought it
hook line and sinker (not) but others did and the rumor gained a little steam
until it dissipated in the mist. After two incredible albums the mighty Maybe
August called it quits; a sign of the time. I grieved the loss as it was
symptomatic of the entire scene in Mid-Michigan. So I was excited when heard
that Roscoe was in the studio.
Here’s my
take on it…
Kneaded and
Thrown might just be the best album of
the season. The music is full of earthy resonance, splitting genres and
roasting chestnuts. Selley has a cast of the usual suspects from ragamuffins
and straight up turnaround buskers who helped bridge the creative process
through debate and compromise. The harmonies are honest, a little sloppy but
that’s the charm. It’s not a pro-tooled piece of belly button fluff. It’s like
when Danko and Manuel squeaked out the harmonies on The Weight. This disc is a
gospel of truth, aging, love and regret. It’s real and wistful without being
trite or maudlin. I love Roscoe Selley for all this and more.
He’s found his voice.
Carpenter opens the disc. Selley’s melancholy
harp is accompanied by Michael Robertson’s guitar. It gently caresses the
lyrics;
All of my
choices/have narrowed down here/all of these voices in my ear.
Roscoe has
found his true voice. It’s not so pretty but its nuance and worn. It recalls
the Beau Brummel’s Sal Valentino singing “Long Walking Down to Misery.”
Roscoe asks
a spiritual question;
I didn’t ask
for this/I don’t know what it means/Am I a spirit or a man.
Robertson’s
supple guitar and Selley’s harp passages ring out a contemplative conversation
that no one will hear.
What I Was Given resonates with an acoustic parade of
phrasings that introduce Selley’s backlot memories; it may be that melancholia
may be an honest appraisal for a reasonable man. Selley’s wistful harp sets the
tone and Mike Thomas’ organ enriches the sonic landscape
There will never be and ending to
this struggle
There is no ending to this live, our
love
This growing up is never going to end
Truth is I’d do it all again
Hey, Amy aka “Everybody has a Story of Pain”
Selley’s lyrics carry some
ambivalence. It’s like a Catholic confessional that wasn’t heard or absolved
causing imperfect connections. Close harmonies give it a cool nuance that
scaffolds the mixed emotions
Hey Amy, I know you’ve been hurt…Hey
Amy – we’ll make it work
Ask me any question – I won’t
lie…never needed an alibi
You know I’m in all the way/If you
let us survive/
If you let me be who I am/Amy I can
be your guy
Turned is the
most personal song Selley has released to date. It is a signature theme about
childhood’s end and adolescent rebellion, a developmental paradox in which we
push away our parents at the time we need them the most. Our fear is that
growing up means selling out; instead it’s a middle path and rapproachment is
around the corner to offer a hand of love. Roscoe nailed the conflict and the
necessary losses that are required; a cool accapella opening segued to Roscoe’s
big full bodied harp playing and masterful unison singing from the band
Everybody’s course was easy to see
/get married/have kids/make a family
Spend your life working for the Dow
Company – But that never was for me
Feeling like a lucky man
Cause I turned…
Home is the
anchor to this collection. It has everything from cool country pickin’ and some
incredible fiddle work from Andy Rogers. Selley knows full well people who
sacrificed for the sale of their art and it becomes a commodity to be co-opted,
pre-empted and recycled. The lyrics reveal a personal truth;
I’ve been handled like clay/I’ve been
kneaded, I’ve been thrown
No I’m molded/into a fragile grace
I long to go home/But the people are
all gone
And Home is much more than a place
For Selley the regrets ebb and flow
like a bottle pushed by the strength of a wave and a lonely truth prevails…the
older I get, the less I know. It is the true measure of our wisdom!
7am begs the
question why were we born if we aren’t forever? Out of an entire disc of
incredible music and lyrical honesty, this song is a testimony to enduring
friendship and love. This songs is tribute to Selley’s dear friend Chris
Michalek who died unexpectedly of a cerebral hemorrhage. The lyrics are simply
stunning;
7am…and dark as dark can be
Now is forever for me/one brilliant
flash
Then eternity
All I am ever going to be
Peace, Peace
Recoil jumped
out with feedback and an ominous minor chord from Robertson and a Guess Who
turnaround (similar to the bridge on American Woman).This song has an-anti war
vibe;
I only did what I was trained to do
And people said I was a hero
Didn’t know that I’d been wound too
By the recoil...
In a Little While brings this disc full circle. Roscoe opens the track with a melancholy
harp tones with Robertson joining in with some sweet economical notations,
exceptional restraint wherein less is more. This is a quiet song and Roscoe is
singing as if he’s sitting on the couch with a few good friends. Selley is
a master of his craft. I’ve never heard
such sad beauty. The music is the perfect accompaniment to the lyrics;
There is so little time/and no
certain path
To get it right/ to make it last
Wish it didn’t go so fast…
So little time
Amen, imperfect beauty, an incredible album
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