Monte Montgomery Wishing Well Antone's Records by Scott Snidow

When sharing with friends and colleagues what project I was currently working on, I got much of the same reaction from everyone. "Man, that dude rocks," or "hey, I saw him opening for so and so and he totally blew me away." One of my colleagues, who was taking in a Montgomery show last month, even went so far as to say, "my wife thinks that I can play the guitar well, wait until she hears him. She won't want to hear me play again." Everything that everyone had to say was enthusiastic, but it all focused on Montgomery's talent as a picker, nothing was said of his talent as a songwriter. No doubt that Monte Montgomery is one of the foremost pickers doing the circuit today. In fact, he can do more with just an acoustic guitar than many of the performers out there can do with an entire battery of guitars and banks of effects. He is that good. His talent is that impressive. This can be evidenced from the reams of critical praise that have been generated about his performances as well as his two previous CD's. He draws the predictable comparisons and analogies to the likes of Lindsey Buckingham, Mark Knopfler, and even Texas' own Stevie Ray Vaughan. But again, I find little, if any, mention of his talents as a singer or a songwriter. Wishing Well, Montgomery's latest offering on Antone's Records, may well change people's perceptions of this Austin based singer/songwriter. Present on this CD are the guitar stylings that listeners have come to expect. His picking talents are amply showcased in such numbers as "Soldier At His Best," "All On Me," and the stirring instrumental number "Bagpipes," where Montgomery does in two and half minutes things with a guitar that many will only dream of ever achieving. In fact, musically Wishing Well is a catalogue of chord changes, radical tunings, and funky, fast and thoroughly efficient fingerings. It is one hell of a rock and roll record. Peeling back the layers of musical ability and guitar wizardry, though, one finds on Wishing Well some well crafted, thought provoking and reflective songs. These are songs taken from Montgomery's personal experiences. They range from funny to quirky to sensitive to poignant, and cover a myriad of topics as diverse as love and war, hope and despair, dreams and inspiration. They serve not only to chronicle life from the songwriter's perspective, but also to embrace the human experience. These are songs from the old school of rock songwriting, when lyrics were full of meaning and poetry. Consider, as one small example of the imagery that one can find on Wishing Well, this excerpt from the track "Erased:" A fresh coat of winter stretches beneath a postcard sky, Broken pieces of dawn they fade as the sun sets up the night. The scene looks like a movie set all perfectly displayed, I feel like summer at a Thanksgiving parade. And then from the last verse of the same song comes these poignant lyrics: Gray sky collecting clouds for a midnight winter rain. I'm traveling in familiar circles but the faces don't fit the names. I can't seem to get past the point of nothing left to lose, I feel like a misprint in yesterday's news. You don't find stirring lyrics like those much these days, especially from someone that the press has praised solely for his prowess on the guitar. Montgomery's skills as both a picker and a songwriter are prominently displayed in the song "Soldier At His Best." The song starts out with some funky guitar riffs somewhat reminiscent of the licks that Peter Green was laying down in the early 70's during his stint with Fleetwood Mac. This fancy guitar work continues throughout the song supplying an interesting counterbalance to Montgomery's vocals. The story of the song is an antiwar message, and rings home the soldier's plight of being stationed on a battlefield thousands of miles from home, and an even further distance away from sanity. Take a message to my mother, tell her I won't be coming home. Tell my wife that I love her, and that I'm sorry she's alone. And I don't know what everybody's fighting about I'm stuck here in this place and there's no way out, Unless I take a bullet in the chest. Soldier at his best. When I first listened to Wishing Well, there was a block of three tracks that immediately caught my attention. I have already made mention of "Soldier At His Best," and "Bagpipes." The third song in the trilogy that immediately impressed me was "Sunset Lullaby." This song contains some beautifully insightful and introspective lyrics that could only be penned by a skilled hand. These are combined with an equally beautiful score. Wishing Well is a well-constructed CD, containing some well-written numbers performed by a master musician. It would not surprise this reviewer if this were the breakthrough album for Montgomery. It certainly contains some fantastic tracks, some of which are replete with the types of hooks that are sure to catch Montgomery a host of new listeners and garner him some critical praise not just as a guitarist, but as a singer and songwriter as well. One thing is certainly clear. Montgomery is certainly poised on the brink of stardom, and with the release of this latest album it becomes abundantly clear that the fame he will one day have well certainly be well deserved. While Montgomery has been called "the best guitar player you never heard," Wishing Well quite possibly will establish him as the best songwriter you never heard. If you are wanting to learn more about this Texas guitar guru, surf on over to www.montemontgomery.com. While you are there, pick up your trusty guitar and try to learn some of Monte's trademark licks with his interactive guitar instructor. I am still busting my chops trying to learn the licks to the song "Wishing Well." Monte Montgomery is currently touring the nation in support of Wishing Well, and he has already played several Texas dates. He is scheduled to return to Texas on October 7 as part of the 7th Annual Stevie Ray Vaughan Remembrance in Dallas. His next scheduled Texas show after that will be on October 24 at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin. Do yourself a favor and make plans now to get out to one of these shows. You can contact Scott Snidow at: scott-at-rockzilla.net

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