Forrest McCurren Blends Rock, Country and Sly Lyrics on ‘Oh Me, Oh My’ (ALBUM REVIEW)

Photo credit: Brett Jackson

Forrest McCurren may just be one album into his career, but he’s carrying on a tradition of laid-back no-frills Americana/folk songs about the underdogs that dates back more than a generation.

Across Oh Me, Oh My, you can hear echoes of some of the genre’s legends like Jerry Jeff Walker and John Prine – especially on songs like the album opener “Big Blue Space” and the catchy “Heavy Old Hearts,” championing small town nobody’s – with a knack for writing succinctly brilliant lyrics. His raspy delivery just adds to the appeal. That’s not to say he’s just copping their style, but he uses their musical influences as a jumping off point for creating his own comfortable sound.

Heartache and dodging loneliness are common themes weaved throughout the record and despite his youth, McCurren has little problem writing convincingly about characters that have clearly lived longer lives. He wrote the bulk of the album during a three-year period after college when he was setting up his adult life. “I was just setting out on my own,” he said recently. “I spent a lot of time thinking about my grandparents, painting a picture of characters I knew growing up. In the songs there’s a sense of longing and place, and they evoke the transition from running wild as a kid to running wild as a man. The songs have a sense of movement and a sense of place and a sense of who I was gonna be.”

It’s that blend, using humor to talk about the under-appreciated that really stirs up that connection between Walker and Prine. “Little Rock,” with beautiful backing vocals from Margaret McCurren, is a stunning modern country love song, while the title track, coming immediately after is a flawless blend of country and classic rock guitars with unforgettably sly lyrics. The album ends on the sweet, optimistic “Stars Still Shine,” caping off 10 great tracks and leaving the listener wanting more: the hallmark of a great album.

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