One of the great contemporary American songwriters, Jonathan Byrd’s songs capture the characters and landscapes of the US like few other artists; and here, Byrd, a seventh generations North Carolinian, trains his focus on his home state.
There’s an honesty and charm that lights up the songs here, it starts with the title (slang for his native North Carolina), and from there he takes the listener on an ordinary journey around the landscape, from The Outer Banks where ponies still run wild, through to a beautiful song based in Rockwell where Byrd sings a songs to his father’s ashes, and throughout the disc there are dirt road visits to stops along the landscape.
Even though the tight musicians add traditional instrumentation of guitar, fiddle, bass, banjo, mandolin, and accordion, and the overall theme of the songs subjects is ‘folksy’, the songwriting is beautifully crafted and sophisticated. There are some fantastically constructed songs here; in particular ‘I Was an Oak Tree’ is a superb piece of writing, and ‘Father’s Day’ is equally memorable and powerful in its subject matter.
‘Cackalack’ is a superb album from one of the most under-rated writers and performers around – essential.
Track listing
1 Chicken Wire
2 Wild Ponies
3 I Was an Oak Tree
4 Reckon I Did
5 New Moon Rise
6 Dungarees Overalls
7 Father's Day
8 White Oak Wood
9 Scuppernong
10 Cackalack!
PLUS 6 Bonus tracks
