Music Review // Will Jackson "Songs From the Briarpatch"

https://open.spotify.com/album/3vnjkRCkRvPYxLpfNb90B9?si=fmEOx0OiQbOZMNz_EiGamw&nd=1

Based upon the first name plus last name for the artist and the title I thought this one would be more like Jack Johnson in the way that it could feel softer and more intimate.   "Songs From the Briarpatch", however, has the sound of a full on band and it makes me feel like it hits on several key influences while yet still creating a sound all its own.  It's not quite grassroots or a jam band or genres along those lines, but this is the closest I will get to listening to that type of music.

Bands like The Rad Trads, Wallflowers and Counting Crows can be heard within these songs.  They have guitars, organ keys and as Will Jackson himself sings this is the "Beach Bum Blues", which I kind of like.   With acoustics and melodies this album makes me think of folk, Americana and a little bit of country.   It's just that type of music which really drives home the heart of America.

On "Drinking My Way Home", Will Jackson confesses that love isn't what will break your heart but rather "It's after love that's so much worse".  So many artists tend to sing about how they are upset or hurt by love, but really it isn't love but as Will Jackson says what comes after.  It's post-love.  It's having love, feeling it, and then not having it anymore.   More people need to talk about that.

"Polaroid Parade" is a song full of strings and acoustics, a sort of ballad for Bourbon Street.  There is a nice drive on "Gonna Get Me Killed" and a wild guitar break down to end it.  For whatever reason, the song "Won't See Me In Heaven" reminds me of something- lyrically- that Billy Joel might write.   During "Walking On Fire" there is that dreamy Chris Issak vibe and throughout this album Will Jackson just seems to touch on all the right bases.

By the end you're listening to "Caroline Calls" and there is just that Southern sort of fun way about it which makes it feel like a summer party- like that one song everyone knows by Uncle Kracker.   And really whether it's a roadtrip or a day at the beach, "Songs From the Briarpatch" is an album you should put on, play it a little loud and relax.   It's not so much a sound as it is a mood and that mood is good vibes.