Steinbeck doesn't tell you what's happening so much as he creates an atmosphere and invites you in. Once you're in, you look around and understand the story beneath the story. Ryan Long's stark, intimate music is similar in its gentle approach. He trusts his listener's intelligence, painting in broad strokes the self-portrait of a man who loves beauty, and has been given the gift to see it in uncommon sources.
The tender opener "Songs of the Angels" sets the tone of gutsy complex truth for the album, with its respectful acoustic portrait of a homeless woman who dreams of a home. The amazing "If It Hadn't Rained" takes it to the next level. This understated tale of his mother's abortion-minded plans derailed by a rainstorm is accented by a lonely lovely flute and the breath-taking lyrics: "Now I'm alive and I might not be/ I'm holding my son and my daughter close to me/We're at home and we're a family/ I might not have this love surrounding me." He might not have intended to create a potent pro-life song, but he did and it is a stunner.
"Send Up a Flare" travels the full route of life, offering up melodic gems and pretty pickin' (the title track's honest take on road-weariness), introspective humor (the playful "Grady Smith"), and the deeply romantic ("Faithful Man"). His descriptive powers are, again, Steinbeck-like in their scope, making you feel as if you've time-traveled to the very place of the song setting. Listening to the stark intimacy of "Faithful Man" is like lying in a bed of rumpled sheets. Long covers family territory with deadly aim, invoking the agony of teen angst in "Dance With Me," the sorrow of losing family in "Grandma's Quilt," and the images called up by "Run Like Andrew" are deeply moving. These portraits of pathos are powerfully underscored by Long's acoustic minimalism. The wailing "I'm Not Waving I'm Drowning" cuts right to the heart, its image and message almost painful to consider, but too vibrant to ignore. "Send Up a Flair" is not easy listening, but that's just what I like about it. Steinbeck would be proud.
Other Indie Projects
Jason Harwell, Alive in the Fall
