Jason Ringenberg – All Over Creation
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Posted On July 1, 2002
If there were any doubt that Jason Ringenberg is a friendly fellow, this collaborative collection scorches them. As Ringenberg explains in the notes, performing solo on his recent tour made him eager for company, inspiring this project of duets featuring kindred spirits from the alternative Nashville axis (Steve Earle, Todd Snider, Kristi Rose et al.) as well as far-flung friends from the road (New York’s Hamell On Trail, England’s Wildhearts).
While the results are all over the map, the album finds a common denominator for the unbridled propulsion of Jason’s early days with the Nashville Scorchers and the more reflective maturity he has displayed as a solo artist.
Through its surrealistic celebration of a twangy extraterrestrial, the opening “Honky Tonk Maniac From Mars” comes bucking out of the chute with a bronco’s kick, while the collaboration with Steve Earle on “Bible And A Gun” revisits a staple from the Scorchers catalog. Further reinforcing Jason’s signature synthesis of country roots and rock’s rambunctiousness are “Too High To See”, written and sung with Tommy Womack; the joyride of “James Dean’s Car”, with Todd Snider riding shotgun; and the borderline grunge of “One Less Heartache” with the Wildhearts.
Other cuts move further afield. The open-hearted balladry of “Camille” features Jason’s tremulous tenor in ethereal harmony with Swan Dive’s Molly Felder, while Paul Burch’s ragtimey “Sun Don’t Shine” brings a bare-bones immediacy to their duo recording. Not everything works; the acoustic stab at the broodingly dark “Mother Of Earth” by the Gun Club’s Jeffrey Lee Pierce falls outside Ringenberg’s emotional range, while the attempts to employ both BR549 and Lambchop as backing bands never quite connect.
Ultimately, co-producer/multi-instrumentalist George Bradfute proves the project’s crucial collaborator, renewing and extending the sort of interplay that Ringenberg long enjoyed with Scorchers guitarist Warner Hodges. Though Gram Parsons and Uncle Tupelo have elicited more reverence as country-rock avatars, Jason’s musical imprint remains more vital than either’s, his influence as wide as this range of collaborators attests.
