Rod Picott
Album: Hang Your Hopes On A Crooked Nail
Label: Welding Rod
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.rodpicott.com

I've derived a lot of satisfaction from Rod's earlier albums, and on a couple of occasions I've seen him cast a spell in a live setting, but now that he's given up his day job to weld his songwriting full-time, some of the spark seems to have disappeared from his music, or at least it doesn't always ignite or burn as brightly.

This new album sounds just fine when taken in isolation, on its own terms: a slice of credible enough contemporary Americana, unless you're acquainted with Rod's previous work that is, in which case you might well feel as I do, that for some of the time at least Rod's going through the motions rather, treading water and saying nothing really new. Sure, Rod still possesses the ability to craft a decent song from a fairly mundane premise or a familiar everyday experience, and in that sense there's nothing wrong with this latest batch of songs; but there's quite often a feeling of heard-it-all-before, in spite of the keen production (R.S. Field) and arrangements that feature some finely managed individual contributions from the likes of Dave Coleman (electric & slide guitars), David Henry (strings) Lex Price (mandolin, tenor guitar) and Joe Pisapia (pedal steel), with nicely sensitive vocal harmonies on a small handful of tracks courtesy of Jennie Okon.

Having said that, I did still much rate the wistful Townes Van Zandt-like Just A Memory and, earlier on the disc, the gorgeous slowie I Might Be Broken Now (one of the album's co-writes with Amanda Shires) and the witty observation of Mobile Home, even if the Crazy Horse-style rocker Where No-One Knows My Name sandwiched in between them comes across as unduly anodyne by comparison. I still like the feel of gentle melancholy that Rod brings to his writing, here evidenced on All The Broken Parts and You're Not Missing Anything in particular; that'll never go away, and neither will his inbuilt gritty resilience, but I reckon he needs to find a way to move on a touch (not sure where or how) in order to avoid getting stuck in a rut.

David Kidman