| CD REVIEW |
| BUCKSHOT BLUES - ALFIE SMITH |
| If you want to know anything about the acoustic folk/roots music scene in the Southwestern Ontario Region, as a musician or simply as a fan, Hamilton-born Alfie Smith is your man. Like his counterparts Brian Gladstone, Shawn Trotter and Shawn Brush, he is not content to focus solely on his own career but extends his arms far and wide to assist members of this particular under-exposed pool of talent. The lyrical sincerity for which this genre is renowned is carried to a new level of brutality on Buckshot Blues, his third recording, following the Dirt Simple and Alfred John Smith CDs. As well as being an award-winning poet, he has toured the major folk music festival circuit, including the Harbourfront Blues Festival and Mariposa Folk Festival in Toronto, the Sanderson Centre in Brantford, the Lighthouse Theatre in Port Dover and Arts Centres in both Waterloo and Cambridge, among many others. Make no mistake � this is not a man to be trifled with (�I ain�t no fool that you can string along�); he�s got a bull****-detector a mile wide. When anger is the dominating emotion, he lets loose a verbal tirade that is vocally and instrumentally matched in displaying the strength of his convictions. You can expect the same honesty in the songs expressing a resigned sadness (e.g. �William Stanley�). �Pretty Little Girl�, which immortalizes the blues of a Stelco worker, and �Possession Blues� are outstanding tracks performed on a National steel guitar, that quintessential instrument of misery. Speaking of misery, Mr. Smith readily admits that this emotional state is the motivating factor in his songwriting. Obviously not a fan of Paul McCartney and his perpetual optimism, as expressed in that musician�s �Silly Love Songs�, Alfie�s cynicism regarding the proliferation of �goddamned love songs on this frikkin� earth� comes through loud and clear in a sardonic, cheerfully-plucked rag entitled �Perfect Love Blues�. He�s proud of his Grizzly Bear persona, but underneath you know he�s just a wounded Teddy Bear. Apart from the traditional gospel hymn, �Wade in the Water�, and the rapid-fire �Big Road Blues�, attributed to blues legend Tommy Johnson long before an unrelated Robert Johnson got to the proverbial crossroads, the music and words on Buckshot Blues all originate from this thought-provoking prophet of doom, exemplified on �Summer of Love is Gone� and �Not Such a Brave New World�. As another Tommy Johnson torch-bearer (Chris Thomas King) states, it is a �Cold Assed World� out there. On one other track, also played on the National, Mr. Smith collaborates with Linda Fraser on �Domestication Blues�, a shockingly violent portrait of Neanderthal domestic abuse, succinctly encapsulated in under two minutes. Buckshot Blues was co-produced and mixed at Chatham Garden Studio by Alfie Smith and Michael J. Birthelmer, who had also produced Steve Sinnicks and Lisa Winn, two other socially and politically conscious songwriters from the Hamilton area. Although it took a few listens to really appreciate the individual lyrical insights and musical intricacies on Buckshot Blues, I feel that much more enriched for having done so. To read more about Alfie Smith, visit www.geocities.com/bigdumox. |
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