Colin Jesse Spring comes to us from the high grounds of Northern Arizona. Miles from where the Colorado River etched a mile deep gouge into a bleak terrain, the landscape rises unseemingly to snowcapped mountains. At the flats beneath lays a city founded on railroads and timber. It is pocked with the ruins of the past, those of dispossessed peoples, reservations, cheap motels that serve to lodge travelers of the legendary Route 66, the following onslaught of fast food restaunants that satiate the tourist who wishes to see the world without the sacrifice of the comforts of home.

Spring's music comes from here. It follows him through his wanderings, be it Austin or Seattle. It is always one step behind breathing out a music that has received acclaim from fans of folk, country, punk, and rock and roll. His lyrics hit like a missile volley preaching love and hate, the bitter and the sweet, always exposing what lays behind the manicured facade.

He is diversely accepted perhaps because he speaks in the timeless tradition of our era -~ those whose message and voicing pack such potency that they need not hide behind volume and pomp to make their impac~

In this age of commodfied rebellion, it's easy to forget that the underground soldiers on. The underground is, however, no longer full of angry punks. Instead, it contains thoughtful, battle-scarred folk.singers like Collin Jesse Spring. Spring's recent CD, Dashboard Tallies. Pedestran Kills. contains 13 quiet, sometimes humorous, sometimes tragic stories of life as seen by the quiet stranger sitting alone at the end of the bar. It's an attidude that Spring wears comfortably, like an old denim shirt, and it's as strong musically as lyrically.
 

Cohn Jesse Spring'. Dashboard Tallies Pedestrian Kills. is a beautifully poetic folk record. Full of whispered lyrics, biting rhymes and bittert sweet songs this disk made me sit up and take notice Sping's voice is a vulnerable, sensitive instrument capable of highs and lows, and I like it. Songs like "My Soul To take" are stripped so close to the bone that  you can hear the pick on the strings of the guitar. Because the record was made with just guitar, a little harmonica and Sping's natural voice, the songs come across like the singer is in the room with you. I would highly recommend this record to anyone who has öost or is looking. 'Nuff' said.
-Bryan Cohen

Colin.Jesse Spring is one of the finest song writers you've never heard.Reviewers and record store managers tend to revel in the simplicity of categorizing by genre. It is, however. difficult to place springs 'ecent release Dashboard Tallies, Pedestrian Kills into a tidy category. It is certainly a folk album as spring himself declares but Jiat is only a description based on the starkness, the stripped down bare bones by which it is presented. Had the production involved fuller arrangement this certainly could have been a punk album, a rock album, or a moody take on the private struggles and obsetvation of our every waking day.

As it was, Spring and producer Michael S. elected to minimal production, putting the songs forefront. It takes a good voice to stand up to the single voice/single guitar test. Every track on the album pulls its' weight: The lyrics are the true beauty of this album. In an age were good promotion can be actively convincing as to the authenticity of alternative or indy music, this is truly and indy endeavor, relying neither on promotion or flashy merchandising. Each cardboard CD cover on his release is silk-screened and had folded; the recording is a gem disguised in understatement. Colin J.Spring's Dashboard Tallies, Pedestrian Kills is available on the HOME RECORDED CASSETTE CULTURE label along with other reeleases including... kind, confused man.... *Doug Marshi/Michael John slit 7" and the Can't Dance, Too Wet to Plow. Order directly from HRCC, P0 Box 23236, Seattle WA 98102, or have your favorite record store order it from the K records mailing list.

K Records
Moisst Underground Noise

Thursday, November 5, 1998