![]() It’s not just that you can you smell as well as see every detail in his songs, from the trash sack full of rib bones in “Screen Door” to the second-hand menthol smoke in the back of the “Smoky Mountain Taxi” it’s his masterful way of quickly sketching startlingly vivid scenes and three-dimensional characters in such a disarmingly natural, folksy vernacular that never sounds labored or highfalutin. Though he’s drawn some lazy comparisons to Townes Van Zandt, he’s actually far more of a Guy Clark type, forgoing fancy metaphors in favor of matter-of-fact vignettes sharper than a Randall knife. So in banding together now to sing Carroll’s own songs back to him - while he’s thankfully still around to hear them - they’re not just doing their part to hopefully grow his audience they’re also effectively thanking him for keeping them all inspired and challenged by writing those songs in the first place.įor the uninitiated, pretty much any one of the songs here offers a textbook example of why Carroll’s work strikes such a chord with discerning music fans and fellow songwriters. And odds are every one of them can name at least one Carroll song - maybe the very one they happen to be covering here - that upon first hearing caused them to feel some measure of outright jealousy on Adam’s behalf, followed immediately by guilt (because it’s pretty much impossible to harbor any ill will towards Carroll, onstage or off), a flash of self-loathing despair, and finally, a desire to buckle down and write a song of their own worthy of following it. ![]() Some have opened for him, others have had him open for them, and just about all of them have probably swapped songs with him in a song circle before, be it in front of an audience or a backyard fire pit. These are all “artisanal songwriters,” most of whom still play the same listening-room and house-concert circuit that has sustained Carroll’s career now for coming up on 20 years. Although a few of the artists featured on Highway Prayer have achieved a fair measure of success and fame as Americana “stars” (namely, James McMurtry and Hayes Carll) or as beloved cult-favorites on the national folk scene (like Cleaves and Terri Hendrix), for the most part nobody here is markedly more - or even less - well known than Carroll himself. That “one of their own” part is rather key, too. That same selfless, purely for the sake-of-the-songs sense of purpose is very much at play here, too, albeit with more than a dozen different artists all coming together to shine the spotlight on one of their own. Slaid Cleaves, quoted in the liner notes to Highway Prayer, calls Carroll’s work “artisanal songwriting” - the kind of stuff you may not find in the mainstream, but that reminds the “fortunate few” that do find it “that great songwriting can connect you to your neighbors, your fellow humans, even your own jaded heart.” Ten years ago, Cleaves recorded a whole album ( Unsung) covering songs by a handful of different songwriters (Carroll included) that he deemed worthy of championing - not because they were famous, recently departed or even necessarily major influences on his own work, but rather simply because he felt their songs deserved and needed to be heard. Fair enough, I suppose - though it seems one could counter argue that those are two of the three reasons that actually make the 42-year-old Carroll the best kind of candidate for such an honor, along with the fact that the guy just happens to write really great songs. Given that Texas troubadour Adam Carroll is neither dead nor “famous,” some might deem him an odd if not outright questionable pick for a tribute record. Ups and downs, but again, overall very good.Highway Prayer: A Tribute to Adam Carroll The wheelchair detective was my favourite character for sure, but I had a problem with practically the entire police force lol. There are so many other things, but I think I'll leave it at this on a good note. ![]() It deals on serious themes like suicide, death and murder. In fact I'm going to add the psychological tag (you're welcome), because it is. If y'all coming here for a light-hearted series, run away fast! This series is surprisingly dark and twisted. I honestly think Sae-ah, Taboo, Epsilon, and practically everyone and everything in this series can be real, because they made it seem to realistic lol.īUT. Really, kudos and great work to the author. So much consultation work had to be done for this series. Sheet! And all those scent facts at the end of every chapter are so interesting. Just the insane amount of research and work that has to go into all the science, chemistry, biology, perfume industry. ![]() Without a doubt, this webtoon is really, really, REALLY good. ![]()
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