Rod Picott Regales with Short Stories on “Out Past the Wires” (Album Review)

[rating=8.00]

Rod Picott is a multi-faceted writer. This double CD set of songs, Out Past the Wires, is the inspiration for an accompanying book of short stories. While we deal only with the music in the review, note that less than three years after his previous release, Fortune, Picott has become a published poet, written a screenplay, two books of short fiction and the first draft of a novel.Here, he has 22 songs that showcase both his prose and poetic skills. It’s mostly spare accompaniment, making it easier to focus on the lyrics, which are the main draw. Compared to previous Picott efforts, though, it seems as if some of the grit has been polished a bit. It’s quieter and though edgy in places, comes off more as contemplative folk music, especially disc two. Yet, his keen gift for storytelling and detailed character portraits will draw you in.

Picott, now living n Nashville, originally hails from Maine where he spent a dozen years in construction as a sheetrock hanger. Four songs were written with his buddy, Slaid Cleaves, also originally from Maine, and two of them, “Take Home Pay,” and “Primer Gray” appeared on Cleaves’ 2017 Ghost on the Car Radio. Given that the arrangements and instrumentation differ slightly for Picott, it takes some getting used to these versions. Yet, these, as much as any two tracks embrace the blue-collar ethos, making it clear that Picott writes from experience, not unlike Springsteen tackling similar territory.

Picott speaks about the concept of an album and book of short stories, “When you move from songwriting to poetry or prose, the shackles come off a bit. That was a lovely experience. I got to take these characters and expand their stories. Each short story is titled after a song on the record, so there’s a connection between all of them. Some are fully fleshed out stories of the characters from the songs, and some are more an extension of the concept behind the song. I didn’t hold myself to being so strictly narrative-based this time.” The book of stories carries the same title. Picott admits to being heavily influenced by Flannery O’Connor and Raymond Carver in fashioning dark stories, mostly about desperate characters living a hand-to-mouth existence, dealing with heartbreak, and simply hanging on, making even the smallest victories meaningful. Picott culled these 22 songs from a batch of 78.

The music sprawls across two discs, ranging from acoustic soft-spoken ballads to guitar-driven rockers (i.e. “Take Home Pay,” “On the Way Down”, “A Better Man,” Coal,” all where Kimbrough shines), but mostly the former. Picott again tapped acclaimed producer Neilson Hubbard who had helmed his last album. Hubbard assembled a studio band of top-shelf Nashville talent, including Will Kimbrough (guitars), Lex Price (bass), Evan Hutchings (drums), Kris Donegan (guitars). Picott plays acoustic guitar, harmonica, and is joined on background vocals by Telisha Williams and Hubbard.

The song “Primer Gray” is in the same mode as Springsteen’s “Racing in the Streets” as Picott describes readying a ’74 Pontiac for racing – “Cause you don’t need that flash and shine/You just need to be hard off the line/So keep your lacquer chrome and flames/I’ll paint mine primer gray.” These lines are much about the attitude that imbues the album as any. Picott has already proved to be one of our more insightful songwriters. Here, he ups the ante with his most prolific work yet.

Related Content

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

New to Glide

Keep up-to-date with Glide

Twitter