Rod Picott
"Girl From Arkansas"
by Johanna J. Bodde


                                                                   

ROD PICOTT   "Girl From Arkansas"   (Welding Rod Records) www.rodpicott.com Rod Picott had mapped out the existence of his previous album "Stray Dogs" so thoroughly during his performances in The Netherlands, that even dedicated fans remarked that it was about time for something new. The third CD "Girl From Arkansas" is released now and it turns out to be a "break-up" album, as Rod and his partner Alicia split up. That leaves me with mixed feelings, I like to see people being happy, but on the other hand: sadnes over lost love often results in beautiful music, which is indeed the case with Rod Picott. The album opens with the title track and sets the mood right away, that's the trademark of a good choice. It might be the way of recording, mostly live in the studio, but this sounds like Rod tells his confidential stories especially to you as the listener. For this introspective album, that needs a little time to grow, the emphasis went more to the lyrics, although Rod didn't lose his ability to compose catchy melodies. "Lullaby" is an instrumental piece, while the cello supports the melancholic atmosphere in "That's Where My Baby Lives". "Wrecking Ball" with ominous electric guitar, dates back to 1989 and was the first song Rod wrote together with his buddy Slaid Cleaves. While he worked in the studio with co-producer and multi-instrumentalist David Henry on "No Love In This Town", after which it was recorded immediately. The raw track "Kerosene" reminds us for a moment of Tom Waits, while the musical arrangement of that little prize animal "Gone" sounds like guitarplaying by Terry Lee Hale with his French band The Blind Doctors. Closing track "Last Goodbye" is still by the hand of Rod and Alicia, I hope they said goodbye and stayed friends! --- Written by Johanna J. Bodde, Dutch original of this review previously published on Real Roots Cafe, The Netherlands. =====