James Lee Baker is another thoughtful, relatively unknown singer-songwriter making an impact lately. But this is much more than just another effort. The CD has an enclosed detailed booklet with artwork, background, and lyrics for each song, some 45 pages in total. In other words, we have almost too much information for a review, so let’s try to stick to the basics. 100 Summers is an eleven-song collection of soothing folk-song melodies that circle around a centralized theme: that of personal transformation. Baker’s emotions are tender, sweet, bittersweet, melancholy, sprinkled with subtle resilience and hope. He’s had some good mentors too, Ellis Paul and Vance Gilbert.
He found the best studio that he could, recording in a series of one-takes at Blue Rock Studios in Wimberly, Texas. Determined to leave no aspect of this project unturned, Baker picked the best group of collaborators he knew and could afford— among them, Chris Bell (the man behind the boards for the Eagles, Don Henley and Christopher Cross), Doug Pettibone (John Mayer, Jewel, Lucinda Williams), Roscoe Beck (Leonard Cohen, Eric Johnson), Paul Simon’s Grammy-winning accompanist and Tex-Mex mainstay Joel Guzman, Americana Songwriter of the Year nominee Mark Erelli, and Laurie MacAllister from the famed folk group Red Molly.
The theme of “personal transformation” rears its head more obviously in some places than in others— “Santa Barbara” being a good example of the former. The rejoicing refrain of “Santa Barbara, I have come to hear your mission bells ring” precedes Baker’s proclamation; “I am here to start a new life again.” “In a way, the second verse is a kind of double entendre,” says Baker. “While I’m talking about the city and its hay days and eventual struggles, I’m really talking to myself and trying to give a needed pep talk—’you were a treasure chest of the gold rush, once a dangerous and lawless place.’” Given that this is one of the outstanding tracks, a glimpse into the song’s origins seem appropriate. His second paragraph appears above. Here’s the first one – “The first time I flew to the West coast was for a work trip to Santa Barbara. I remember feeling the balmy, humid, salty air on my face when the glass sliding doors of the airport opened up. I remember the palm trees dancing like a steady luau welcoming me. In the years that followed my visit to SB, I relocated to the Bay Area for work and spent nearly three years as a resident of California. In the turmoil of a decaying long-term relationship, I pulled in my own experiences and tied this song together.”
The opener and title track explore a more subtle change; one that comes through maturity and reflection. “As I grow older, it becomes clearer to me what truly matters most in this short and fragile life we have,” Baker reflects. “For me, it is my family, my pursuit for integrity, and my focus on craftsmanship as an artist. While I am always learning, I am coming to find material things and adventurous experiences pale in comparison to the tender and priceless moments I share with my family and dearest friends.”
This is an album packed with great songs, the kind you need to spend time alone with to really appreciate. This is quiet material that’s evocative and rife both with imagery and emotions, which become even more vivid and admirable if you spend the time reading his notes for each song. Consider that In 2019 alone, Baker scored several honors from prestigious competitions. Two of his songs— “Returning to Paris” and “The Last Cowboy in Hutchinson County” (both of which appear here)—qualified him as a finalist in The Falcon Ridge Folk Festival’s Emerging Artists Contest. Those same two songs also found him a finalist in the Wildflower! festival as well. In addition, he was named a semi-finalist for the Unsigned Only songwriting contest. He toured extensively over the past two years, playing stages throughout the Southwest while opening for singer/songwriters Ellis Paul and Vance Gilbert and becoming an established presence in the Folk Alliance community.
Here is the bleakly sad chorus from “Returning to Paris” – “We have come to the city of love to say goodbye/For so long I believed this day would never arrive/But here we are looking down at all these lights/While ours is going out.” “The Last Cowboy in Hutchinson County” is a detailed story song with plenty of family history from Amarillo, TX, from which Baker hails. It portrays the impact of corporate chain grocery chains, the influx of manufacturing, and the encroaching suburbs on farms and ranches. The imagery Baker paints is indelible as in this last verse –“It’s a three mile drive through suburban streets/The smell of feedlots fill the air/And everyone at home is sound asleep/Except an old weathered man in his chair/The machinist pours a coffee to drink/And sits with the last cowboy from Hutchinson County.” There’s a great song on the harrowing images drawn from 9/11/2001 in “Breaking Through the Sunbeams” but we’ll leave that as yet another tantalizing reason to explore this project.
Clearly, these are some of the most well-crafted songs you’ll hear. And they will stick to you like that t-shirt on a hot humid day. It’s not surprising that Baker is being hailed by one publication as “to call him anything other than brilliant would be criminal.” Just listen and you will likely concur.
Photo By Delaney Gibson
