Pierce Pettis • Father's Son
With Father’s Son, his tenth studio album, Pettis proves that the decades have not diminished his ability to create moving melodies that carry the kind of hard-earned wisdom that comes by forging though life’s daily trials and facing pain head on. On "Wouldn’t Change It For the World," the record’s soaring opener, we can hear that in the ten years since his last album, the trademark sandpaper quality of Pettis’s voice has been replaced by a distinctly rougher grain. This could wear thin coming from a less confident singer, but the sheer conviction of Pettis’s delivery turns the tremors of age into gravitas. By the time Pettis reaches the funereal "Don’t Know Where I Am," it’s best to keep a box of tissues handy. Held together by the aching strains of a lonesome violin, the song is a brutally honest admission of despair that can be applied both to personal circumstance or the state of the political world. While its heart is certainly in the right place, the song entitled "Mr. Zeidman," about a Holocaust survivor, suffers from the writer's trap of telling instead of showing. The result is that Andrea Zonn’s beautiful string arrangement sounds somewhat overwrought. The standout composition is undoubtedly "Your Father’s Son," a haunting testament to the inescapable combination of nature and nurture that makes us who we are. From the spacious echo of its opening guitar lines to the waltzing violin and organ, Pettis has constructed a song that begs repeat listening. Veteran music producer Garry West chose to record these sessions "live on the floor" with minimal overdubs, and the result is a vibrant re-creation of what happens when a group of musicians are utterly in sync. West managed to place each instrument in three-dimensional space, allowing the guitar chords to fully resonate and strings to bloom. Bass lines are fulsome and drums have visceral impact. The warmth and rich detail make this one of the most analog-sounding digital recordings I’ve heard this year. The louder you play it, the better it gets. Pettis’s backup band is a murderer’s row of
studio aces that include keyboardist Reece Wynans of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s touring
band, longtime Patty Griffin collaborator and guitarist Doug Lancio, and vocalist Ruth
Moody of The Wailin’ Jennys. String duties are shared by Stuart Duncan and Zonn, who
deserve a great deal of credit for the brooding atmosphere and poignancy of this
emotionally rewarding and memorable album. |
labaman Pierce
Pettis has never been a household name, but he’s been a highly regarded songwriter in
the Americana/folk scene ever since Joan Baez recorded his "Song at the End of the
Movie" back in 1979. His work as a staff writer for Polygram and relentless touring
inspired dozens of artists-- from Dar Williams to Garth Brooks and Dion -- to record the
guitarist’s bittersweet brand of meticulously crafted compositions. Pettis further
honed his performance chops in the midst of New York City’s "fast folk"
movement in the 1980s, where he shared Greenwich Village stages with the likes of Shawn
Colvin, Suzanne Vega and John Gorka.