ROBBY HECHT, the man and the album, is a shining example of a songwriter who has totally hit his stride.
Knoxville born, Nashville based Hecht’s third solo release, as with its predecessors, was produced by Lex Price (k. d. lang, Mindy Smith). Hecht (vocals, acoustic guitar) is supported here by Price (acoustic/electric guitar, bass banjo, keyboards, percussion), John Deaderick (piano, synthesiser, keyboards), Will Kimbrough (electric guitar), Casey Driessen (fiddle) and from The Greencards Eamon McLoughlin (strings) while Julie Lee, Elizabeth Foster and Rose Cousins supply backing vocals.
Album opener, I Don’t Believe It, is an elegant mid-paced ballad, while ex-Wallflowers Fred Eltringham’s drums – he contributed to last year’s Kelly Willis/Bruce Robison duo disc – propels the ensuing New York City. 
In the former “don’t tell me it’s wrong” is repeated by the troubled narrator, while in the Big Apple, a city “without pity” there’s allusion to “take my mind of it,” “make me fight for it” and more. Feeling It Now finds the narrator express restrained optimism regarding his future. Cousins duets with Hecht on Soon I Was Sleeping, an alcohol laced – love’s been lost – yarn, that, for one person, appears to suggest a ‘longed’ for rapprochement. The Sea And The Shore graced co-writer Amy Speace’s 2013 release HOW TO SLEEP IN A STORMY BOAT. Where John Fullbright voiced the “sea” to Amy’s “shore,” here, Hecht supplies both voices. Replete with a John Mark Painter horns section, the soulful The Light Is Gone references what once shone in “my lover’s eyes.”
Robby co-wrote Papa’s Down The Road Dead with Wyatt Easterling. The latter made his solo recording debut – for Moonlight Records, a Warner Bros subsidiary – over three decades ago. 
Thematically this ‘speeding train’ paced number reflects on the life of Papa who has departed this earthly plain. A few seconds over five-minutes duration Hard Times, penned by Gillian Welch/David Rawlings, is the only cover and the album’s longest selection. Set on a spring-time Sunday evening Barrio Moon recalls a dark deed that occurred in “my old little town.” A melody to die for, Cars And Bars observes, for a fleeting moment, the possibility of new love – “…we shared some of our scars.” A will-o’-the-wisp, just as quickly the possibility vanishes. The penultimate Stars and album closer When I’m With You Now also reflect on the many shades of love.
While not entirely composed of ballads, slower paced songs hold sway on ROBBY HECHT, and possess a sparkle and gloss, in word and melody, that simply warrants repeated hearing.
Photo Credit:
Robby Hecht (Jordan Brooke Hamlin)
Robby Hecht (Tasha Thomas)
From the desk of the Folk Villager
Footnote:
Kerrville New Folk Song Contest winner Robby Hecht, accompanied by David Berkeley and Peter Bradley Adams (eastmountainsouth) will undertake a U.K. tour from 25th June through 6th July 2014.
