Further On

Randy Thompson

Jackpot Records

4 stars (out of 5)

Some albums you can put in your CD player and immediately know what the songs are about and it's easy to form an opinion, whether you like it or not. Other albums, take more time. You have to live with them for a while, understand what the music and lyrics are saying, feel the emotions living in the songs. Randy Thompson's CD Further On, was like that for me.

Randy pulls from rock, country, and bluegrass to create an album that is real. Electric lead guitar, steel guitar (manned by Don Helms), fiddle, banjo, and acoustic guitars all mix to create a sound that defies genre. His hard, gritty vocals tell stories about life and love with the vision of someone who has seen all aspects of life from beautiful to ugly. The stories he tells may not be pretty and polished, but they have truth.

Although a couple of the songs on this album didn't work for me, most of them grabbed me and wouldn't let go. "Don't You Remember" is a bittersweet story of a couple who started out too young. Everyone said they were too young to marry, but they knew everyone was wrong. In the end though, he falls apart and loses her love, but he still asks her, "Don't you remember, the man I used to be?"

The fiery, up-tempo "Ol' 97" is a regional folk song about a train wreck in the 1800s. The train is behind schedule and the engineer must put on the speed to make up the time. The fast pace of the instruments easily brings up the image of the train speeding down the track, unable to stop because the brakes gave out.

"Riptide" is probably the most tender song on the CD. An acoustic ballad, it uses the imagery of a riptide pulling someone out to sea as a metaphor for the end of a marriage and a husband and wife splitting up. This unstoppable force pulls them further and further apart.

It may have been a bluegrass hit for Bill Monroe in the 1940's, but Randy's version of "Molly and Tenbrooks" is quite different. Randy takes the song into present day with rock-style lead guitars, but tips his hat to its past with heavy doses of mandolin throughout the song. Randy's gritty vocals only enhance the tragedy of the ending to this story about a horse race.

In all, Randy Thompson has put together an excellent CD filled with stories about truth, life, and love. The is a CD made by an artist for people who love music. If you consider yourself a fan of music, pick this CD up today.