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Jasper Stone
Back 40 Star
Self-release
By MarianneEbertowski
 Seldom making an
album must have been accompanied with so much hardship and tragedy
as Back 40 Star by Texan roots-rock band Jasper Stone.
Everything seemed to go smoothly for the boys from Azle (near
Fort Worth ) until after their first European tour in May 2002.
They returned home to start recording their third album and then
go back on the road again. Money problems and the sudden departure
of engineer David Willingham forced the band to reschedule the
sessions for early May 2003, this time with Matt Barnhart (Slobberbone,
Centro-matic, Baptist Generals, Polyphonic Spree) at the controls.
Just two weeks before they were to go back in the studio to
finish Back Forty Star, misfortune hit again. While working
in his cabinet shop, front man Ed Voyles's hand got caught in
the blades of an industrial fan. The index finger on his fret
hand was chopped off and crushed by the rotating blades. Ed was
rushed to the hospital where, miraculously, the doctors were
able to reattach his finger. With metal rods placed in his hand,
a long time of anxiety set in for Voyles, as he could not be
sure how his injury was going to affect his playing. After two
months of physical therapy, Ed Voyles, never one to give up easily,
finally had most of his motion back in the finger except for
the top joint.
Just when the worst seemed to be over, tragedy struck again.
On July 27, drummer Henry "Hank" Meyer and his wife
Heather died in a car crash along Interstate 35E in Carrollton.
When Voyles heard the news, he was devastated. He had known Hank
for more than 15 years having been college roommates, co-workers,
best buds, and band mates since 1997. Once again, the band had
to cancel all studio plans. They needed time to mourn. Shortly
afterwards, bass player Dan Stewart decided to leave the band,
but he and Ed were determined to finish the project as a final
statement for Hank. At the same time, young guitar player Ron
Geida started wondering whether he felt able to continue with
the band, but could be convinced to, at least, finish the project.
Finally, Back 40 Star was completed with the help of additional
musicians Bruce Alford on drums, Will Brumely on fiddle and Rob
Stave on fiddle and mandolin, and a fine album it has turned
out to be.
Jasper Stone play straightforward, gritty roots-rock with
a touch of blues and a feel for the road and the love and life
of hard working people. Ed Voyles's songs are about the lives
of little people even if they happen to be "trust fund drifters,"
about being on the road and wanting to be home, about being home
and wanting to be on the road, about calling your ex on a broken
payphone in front of her house and, inevitably, about losing
your best friend. Ed's unpolished vocals are backed up by Ron
Geida's excellent, versatile guitar work, Dan Stewart on bass
and harmonica and, yes, by the late Henry Meyer's fabulous drumming
on most of the tracks. For Ron it's his debut on CD with the
band, for Dan and for Hank it's a farewell for divergent reasons.
The opening "Out the Window" is a fiddle-drenched
hillbilly stomper. "There's a world out the window, and
I swear it keeps calling on me," sings Voyles, sounding
confident and optimistic to a world that seemed still all right
at the time. The world keeps calling in "Back on the Road"
with major roles for Hank Meyer and Ron Geida laying down a steady
Bo Diddley rhythm&riff and Dan Stewart blowing his harp.
"Ashes & Grounds," a love-gone-wrong-song that
almost ends in arson sounds as mournful as Jasper Stone can sound
and "Everybody Knows," is a great little story about
coming home after a few years of absence and being afraid to
visit the local bar again as a "loser," but no one
seems to mind and everybody knows you're back again anyway.
Ed Voyles wrote "Sunshine Hotel" after hearing an
audio documentary about a flophouse in New York where the residents
decided not to go home again, maybe out of the same fear of being
called a loser, and now they're too old and tired to return.
With Dan blasting away on harmonica and Ron contributing all
those melancholy chords on guitar, this song is as beautifully
alt.country as any Uncle Tupelo.
"Let the Blues Play Again," is a perfect demonstration
for Texan music: a blues song with a real nice shuffle. Ron Geida
on slide and and Dan Stewart on harmonica add the extra flavor
to the basic ingredients provided by Voyles and Meyer on vocals
and drums.
One of my favorite songs is the Stonesy/Youngish "Trust
Fund Drifter," that tells the story of a rich trust fund
kid leaving his parents' world behind to follow the Grateful
Dead or a similar traveling band. With its great harmonies and
fiddles going wild, "Trust Fund Drifter" is one of
the highlights of the album and would be a country radio classic,
if country radio cared enough about real country music.
Jasper Stone continue with "Late September," a fine
rocking song about a traveling musician, then digs into bluegrass
territory with another highlight of the album, the mandolin-
and fiddle-introduced "Crooked Payphone." Great harmonies
and very decent banjo picking by Geida introduce the listener
to the so far unknown soft, acoustic side of the band and it
tastes of more!
"Maybe I'll Be the One" is not bad for what Texan
singer-songwriters seem to call so utterly romantically and rurally
a "chick song." It rocks and rolls thanks to Geida's
inventive guitar riffs and Voyles playing his "another poor
boy role" with triumphant persuasiveness. In "Morning
Bus," the Jacksboro-born singer describes his childhood
frustrations when he and his brother had to make all these long
bus rides to school, whereas the rich kids who lived closer to
town got picked up later and dropped earlier.
The emotionally charged closing "Always Blue," written
by Voyles on a sleepless night, has been added to the original
album as a tribute to Henry Meyer. It is the last time the three
remaining Jasper Stones members recorded together, just live
around a mic, and it has become a very touching farewell to Henry.
Dan's harmonica and Ron's subtle guitar playing make the song
sound like a Lovin' Spoonful song, just a little less honey-dripping,
just a little grittier.
When Voyles sings "Oh I miss you/ Cause I always had
me and you/ You tried to keep me in line/ And keep me on time/
With a gentle hand and heart so kind/ Oh I miss you/ Now I'm
always blue," the feeling of loss and sadness is palpable.
For a moment, my thoughts go back to my brief encounter with
Henry Meyer, a friendly, soft-spoken, gifted musician who "liked
to bang on things." He was so proud and happy, he wrote
to me later, that he took his wife on the European trip to show
her that all those hours of practicing and all those days on
the road were finally paying off. I wish they both would have
had more time to enjoy it.
Back 40 Star is Jasper Stone's best album so far. That
this album has seen the light of the day at all and that the
band still exists, is a small miracle. It's a miracle made possible
through the tenacity of a tough little guy from Jacksboro who
refused to give up even though he will probably never be more
than a "back 40 star." Well, it's stars like that that
shine brighter than others, especially when the road has turned
too dark to see.
www.jasper-stone.com
www.sonic.nl (European
Distribution)
Contact Marianne Ebertowski at ebertowski-at-rockzilla.net
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