ABOUT RECORDING THE COMANCHE SESSION CD
honest music recorded the way it used to be. I sat down in front of two
microphones and recorded this start to finish on the same day with no punches.
The reason I did this is because I feel the listener should be getting an honest
representation of what the artist is able to pull out of himself. In this day and
age of technological wizardry, a lot of what you hear is just the technology.
On this CD all you are going tohear is my voice, my guitar and my harmonica.
I feel there is something to be said for doing things the old fashioned way.
I hope you enjoy this effort and look forward to seeing you down the road."
is a singer songwriter who sat himself in front of two mics with
just his guitar and harmonica for accompaniment. Offering a mix
of his own compositions and songs from more famous pens, his
performance is absorbing, due to a voice that always sustains
interest and some fine guitar picking.
Canfield's own material ranges from western ballads to straight
country love songs. Cowboy's Prayer tells of a line fencer dreaming
of mom and home, while To Hell Or To Texas is, unexpectedly in
view of the title, a slow, broken-heart waltz.
Clay performs two Townes Van Zandt compositions, Blaze's Blues
and the well-known tale of Poncho & Lefty, to perfection, and his
cover of Tennessee Whiskey is no less appealing, in its sparce reading,
than the David Allen Coe version. Where Love Started Out, Whitey Shafer and Lonny Williams' tale of a bull rider giving up the rodeo, is delightful.
What's clear is that Clay Canfield's performance would have been far
lress compelling had he used a full complement of musicians. With just
his voice and two instruments, he creates a musical intimacy that makes
for pure listening pleasure.
Do I sound like I'm gushing? I am, unashamedly. Canfield's got it all. His rugged, cowboy good looks are Hollywood material. He's a registered Native American Indian witih the Osage Tribe. And his new album, The Comanche Session is at once daring and traditional in it's approach.
The Comanche Session, recorded at Nashville's Comanche Studio is a stripped- down acoustic gem, simply featuring Clay on guitar and harmonica. I've listened to it several times, but never noticed a lack of instrumentation (and remember, I'm a studio player who's always working with six and seven-piece bands). I'll leave it to a record reviewer to talk about the songs themselves. Suffice it to say, Clay Canfield has good taste.
The only thing that amazes me is why Clay Canfield hasn't been made into a Nashville star already. Maybe he'll do it the cowboy way and make it on his own.