David Bullock – In the Waking World

There was a time, way back in the Stone Age of music, when David Bullock was an up-and-comer on the folk circuit of Fort Worth/Dallas/Houston, sharing the stage with the likes of Jerry Jeff Walker, Guy Clark, and Townes Van Zandt. He loved folk music and could have gone the way of many who made it big in that genre but was co-opted by a handful of individuals who would become brothers in more ways than you might think to form a group known as Space Opera. One step to the left or just a hesitation and his life changed.

The dream never changed, though, and the music remained. Always at the back of his mind was that urge to create and produce his own music and now, decades later, he has done it— a five-song EP titled In the Waking World. Four new songs and a stellar remake of “Blue Ridge Mountains” originally on Space Opera’s one major label attempt at rock fame, the self-titled album recorded for Epic and released in 1973 (released on Columbia in Canada in 1972). Bullock does not want this new EP to ride on the back of that cult album, classic though it is.

But he cannot escape his own past. His songwriting and voice is very much part and parcel of that album and, in fact, all three albums by the band— yes, I said three. The Epic album is the one most fans know about. There were three total, the second (also self-titled) released by the band itself around 2000 or so and recorded in the late-nineties; the third salvaged from tapes both earlier and later than the Epic album. All three are excellent— fascinating to those of us who slowly uncovered the path of the band over a period of decades.   

This is not about Space Opera. It is about David Bullock who, as much as he loved that band and its members, thought long and hard before he crossed the line from dreamer to, once again, musician. And when he makes up his mind, he’s all in.

He headed to Nashville to record the EP/mini-LP (there are five songs), bringing in James Pennebaker to coordinate the band and he put together a beauty. Some of the best Nashville has to offer, truthfully, including Reese Wynans (keyboards), Chad Cromwell (drums), Michael Rhodes (bass), plus guitarist-extraordinaire Kenny Greenberg, and the result is topnotch.

From the first notes of the swamp-rockish “Rural Free,” you hear it, that professionalism which makes music seem synergistic (and makes every wannabe in the world say “I can do that!”). No, kid, you can’t. It has taken years and years for these guys to get this good. And they are. Without Bullock’s voice, I would swear that this was Ireland’s new country-oriented rockers, Stephen Young & Union Station. A bit of Southern, a bit of country rock, a bit of swamp (thanks mainly to Pennebaker’s excellent fiddle) makes this a no-brainer kickoff track. “When She Belonged To Me” is more mainstream and surprisingly reminds me of a cross between Bullock and Phil Keaggy, and again, perfect for Bullock’s smooth voice. A little funk and blues permeates “Live Until I Die,” giving Bullock a chance to not only stretch the voice out but blow some fine mouth harp as well, and oh, Greenberg’s guitar solo is sweet! In between Bullock’s early folk phase, Fort Worth’s The Mods in which he played, and Space Opera was a little project put together by T-Bone Burnett called Whistler, Chaucer, Detroit and Greenhill in which the various musicians toyed with various musical styles, some of it what I would define a folk/psych— smooth, melodic, harmonic, drawing roots from the history of if not the music of traditional folk of the UK. Bullock, always drawn toward the style, wrote “Gloucester Green,” a picturesque scene of another era. Four songs, four styles, all woven together by Bullock’s musical vision.

Which brings us to “Blue Ridge Mountains.” To say that the first Space Opera album was adventurous for its time would be an understatement. The album was full of chaotic guitar, odd chord changes, minor chords and twists and turns most bands were not making back then. Were it not for Bullock and his way with melodies and harmonies, the album might well have fallen off the edge of the then flat earth. “Country Max” got the band their only real airplay outside of Texas, their home State, and “Blue Ridge Mountains” followed that song’s template.

Including it on this EP is somewhat surprising in that space and time was so limited and I am sure Bullock did not really want to revisit successes past. But he did and I am thrilled. Not only is the new version close enough to the original but far enough away to make it fresh. But here’s the kicker. Bullock brought in his two daughters, Sarah and Lyddy, to sing harmony and the result is magnificent. No flash, just three Bullock voices echoing through the rafters like they were meant to be together. A father singing one of my favorite Space Opera songs with his daughters. It was as if it was meant to be. And it is. It sends chills up my spine when I think how important this is to all three and the girls’ mother, as well. Incredibly cool. Alas, there is no video. Maybe sometime soon?

I refuse to put this on my list for best of 2015. I am saving it for next year. The mini-LP/EP (there are five tracks) has only been released recently and needs time to simmer. Yes, next year. That will give me time to listen more and to write about it. And it will give you time to find it— those of you who always complain about lack of music in today’s world. You can check out the album on CDBaby (click here). Be on the lookout for more. David Bullock is back. And I, for one, am quite thankful.