The first thing you notice about Ryan Curtis is the voice. Like Tom Waits after a few belts of whiskey and a half a pack of smokes, Curtis’ deep vocals can shake the trees and certainly command attention. It also happens to be perfectly suited for his distinct brand of Americana, which vacillates between country, blues, rock and honky tonk at any given moment.
The sophomore solo effort, Ain’t Ever Easy, finds this Boise-based singer digging into those disparate musical influences. The album opens on “Can’t Take Back,” with its solid funk guitar lines and a little blues mixed in, then segues nicely into the more folk-orientated “Codependent Heart,” with a strong Steve Earle vibe. “Wasted Energy,” one of the slower tracks, is also one of his strongest, with the acoustic strums and Telecaster twangs leaving plenty of room to show off Curtis’ lyrical prowess. But just so you don’t get too accustomed to the acoustic ballads, he throws in plenty of barroom singalongs here like “Cactus and Cocaine” and “I Love This City.” Elsewhere, “Drunk Tank,” with its liberal use of the cow bell, is gritty Country Rock at its finest. Lyrically, the songs find Curtis revisiting bars and bad mistakes that serve almost as a travelogue of this musician who is seemingly always on tour.
Not all of the songs here are flawless, “Good Corn Liquor,” has some solid guitar solos but at five-minutes it feels twice as long and musically a little redundant. The same can be said of the maudlin closing track, “Through the Trees.” But there are enough great moments here to make up for the one or two stumbles. The album was recorded in Enterprise, Oregon by fellow musician Bart Budwig.
A constant presence on the road, with a new album on the merch table, Curtis is loading up the van and back at it with shows throughout the Midwest and West already scheduled through the end of September.
