f Southbound had been released in the ’70s, some tracks might have been pegged as outlaw country, others as country rock and one or two might have made a run for the Top 40. Nowadays Bob Rea finds himself classified as Americana, a spacious catchall that implies twang and hard-scrabble authenticity. He deserves to transcend labels on the strength of songs expressing a vision—both personal and distinct—through music solidly assembled and performed with grainy conviction. Call him what you will: Rea is a superb songwriter. Dave Luhrssen/Shepherd Express.
Not one to hold back an emotional gut-punch, Bob Rea softens the blow, somewhat, with lyrical crafting and collaborations that rival those of any top-tier troubadour one can name. While often immersed in his own tragic intimacies- “Wanna Do”, “Lonely Is Lonely”- he finds a moment to season another’s parallel plight with pungent humor- “Screw Cincinnati”, then counter that light-hearted spell with the mind-searing, Cohen-esque “The Law”. Other tracks of note on this early “years-best” candidate include “Soldier On”, “Southbound” and “Vietnam”. Production and backup is first-rate. Duane Verh- Roots Music Report
In 2003BobRea’sfirst album, Black
Highway, released and debuted in the
top twenty on theRootsradio chart. Not
a bad beginning.
I expect hislatest, Southbound, to do
even better.
Rea, who was born in Southwest
Colorado, is old school with comparisonsto
Guy Clark and Leonard Cohen.
He grew up working on the family
farm as a cattle rancher, log home
builder and a bar-band musician. Rea
also grew up watching Vietnam unfold
and thought a lot about those who had
to go, and those who chose not to.
“That's my era, when I was a kid,” he
said. “I was trying to explain to my
cowriter, Kate Graves, how messed up
and normal at the same time things
seemed then. I just started to remember
things that happened to me or my
friends and we ended up with thissong.
But people, as Americans will do, we
just lived with it… made the best of it.
It affects us still.”
Rea slows things down on “Vietnam”
which is meditation of being
scared, the guilt and wondering what
that war was really all about.
The CD starts with a barnburner, the
title cut “Southbound.”
“Southbound can mean a lot of
things—fromgoing on vacation to running
from the law or falling for a mythical
Goddesslike the girl in the song. In
the end nomatter whether you are building
log homesin the mountains or writing
songs in Nashville, daylight’s
burning and ultimately you’re Southbound,”
Rea said.
My favorites are the Prinish “Screw
Cincinnati,” the rocking “The Law” and
the bittersweet “APlace inYour Heart.”
To me, Bob sounds like early Waylon
or Steve Earle — you can’t go
wrong with a sound like that.
He’s also got a co-write on my friend
Rod Picott’slatest doubleCD which I’ll
be reviewing soon. Jim Clark/The Courier
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