Greg Trooper
Straight Down Rain
Eminent Records EM-25060-2

by Al Kunz

My image of a Nashville songwriter is someone churning out the same old tearjerker ballads and pop songs masquerading as country. Like Duane Jarvis and Buddy Miller, Greg Trooper is one of a growing number of songwriters operating on the fringes of Music Row, refusing to conform to this stereotype.

Frequent performances at Houston's Mucky Duck, New York's Bottom Line, and a variety of Austin and Nashville venues have helped Trooper build a small but fanatical following among music fans in these cities. Intelligent lyrics that don't shy away from the ambiguity and contradictions of real life have attracted the attention of Steve Earle, Vince Gill, and contemporary folkie Lucy Kaplansky, who have all recorded his songs.

Lyrically Straight Down Rain is what we've come to expect, but musically it's a pleasant surprise. Producer Phil Madeira took Trooper into new musical territory using a variety of instruments to enhance the message of the songs. A repetitive drum loop adds to the tired frustration of the lyrics when a trucker returns home from a long trip only to be asked to leave in "Doghouse".

He says just got in from Timbuktu
Drove all night to be with you
Didn't eat, didn't sleep
Had no time to cheat
I'm in the dog house now

A recurring theme in Trooper's songs is the difficulty and frustration of love. In "Nothin' But You" he is racing back to save an abandoned relationship, knowing the effort is most likely destined to fail.

Another day of driving
We'll be together again
If I had wings I'd be flying
I'm going fast as I can

It takes no time to remember
It takes a life to forget
Can you and I stay together
Can you forgive my restlessness

The appeal of many Americana artists is a refusal to be trapped in a single genre, using the mix of style and sound that work best for each song. "Real Like That" is a country love song featuring harmony vocals from Julie Miller and Fats Kaplan on fiddle, while "You Love Your Broken Heart" is a folk song about a lover, "happy in your misery", who enjoys martyrdom too much to forgive and move forward.

I'd like to think the time has come
For ancient wounds to heal
To shake off all the ghosts that still remain
I'd like to think the time has come
To get to something real
But you love your broken heart too much to change

The majority of the album's compositions are recent efforts, written in the period since 1998's Popular Demons. A notable exception is "Trampoline", originally recorded by co-writer Bill Lloyd on his 1994 release Set to Pop. No matter how clichéd, this song can only be described as a bouncy ode to manic depression.

She's either up or down
She's never in-between
She never hits the ground
She's on a trampoline

She cannot help herself
This woman of extremes
No one can talk her down
Down from her Trampoline

The standout track is "Sometimes it Takes a Hurricane". A commentary on the sometimes misplaced priorities of society, but catchy enough that you'll find yourself singing it around the house.

In freedom land love is hard to come by
Crime is down but hate still holds its own
White kid sees the cops and feels protected
Black kid hopes no cops see him walking home

Sometimes it takes no more than a drop of water
To fill the glass that holds your hopes and dreams
Sometimes it takes no more than a drop of water
Sometimes it takes a hurricane

With Straight Down Rain Greg Trooper continues to refine his songwriting craft, growing his fan base one person at a time. Available at www.gregtrooper.com or the usual Internet outlets.

Contact Al Kunz at kunz-at-rockzilla.net

 
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