Chris Smither – Drive You Home Again

The trademark blue Alvarez guitar is in fine tune on Chris Smither’s latest album, which shows that no genre is ineligible for Smither’s talent. Drive You Home Again, melodic and sometimes melancholy, works best in the middle of an overnight drive on blue highways, where you’ve seen so much scenery that you don’t notice it anymore and you can feel the music pumping out of the speakers. These are simple stories about love, longing and loss, but with redemption in the resolution of the melodies.

The title song kicks things off with a potent blast of Delta swamp gas that goes from zero to a cool cruising speed of 40 in three verses; Smither’s evocatively blurry singing voice draws you into the tune. The second track, a blues-meets-honky-tonk rocker called “Steel Guitar”, features so many things sliding on the necks of guitars, steel and otherwise, it would make Junior Brown sit up and take notice. “Get A Better One”, sort of a Smither version of Greg Brown’s “88 Lines About 44 Women”, is understated in its simplicity but haunting in its undeniable catchiness. “Tell Me Why You Love Me” is genuine Tex-Mex, with a snappy accordion serving as counterpoint to his somber vocals.

There’s plenty on Drive You Home Again to thrill Smither’s longtime fans. Newcomers with an ear for authenticity in their acoustic blues who missed Smither’s first 28 years may find themselves signing up for his mailing list and seeking out the back catalog.