Various Artists – Edges from the Postcard 4
Peter Blackstock
Posted On September 1, 2000
An outgrowth of the annual St. Louis gathering Twangfest, itself an outgrowth of the internet discussion list Postcard2, this series of compilation discs continues with a collection of 17 tracks taken from musicians associated with the P2 crowd in one way or another (i.e., they subscribe to the discussion list or have played the festival, or both).
Seven acts return from last year’s release: Hayseed, Mark Rubin, Jim Stringer & the AM Band, Fear & Whiskey, One Riot One Ranger, the Rockhouse Ramblers, and the Sovines. Those reappearances are a double-edged sword, providing a sense of communal consistency but also filling slots that might otherwise further diversify the series’ roster. Still, most of the alumni seem worthy of their status, particularly Stringer, whose “The Truth (As We Know It)” is sharp in terms of both wit and musicianship, and One Riot One Ranger, who make easygoing country charm sound effortless with “On The Other Side Of Little Rock”.
This year’s most prominent new additions are the Texas Plainsmen with Yodelin’ Donnie Walser, whose “Rainbow On The Rio Colorado” was taken from a 1964 radio show; Tim Carroll, who delivers the sort of straightforward, solid songwriting that has long been his stock-in-trade with “A Man On The Run”; and Lonesome Bob, who closes the disc with the moving, six-and-a-half-minute ballad “Things Change”, featuring Amy Rigby on backing vocals.
One might have expected the cut by Bobby Earl Smith to be a ringer, given the presence of fiddler Johnny Gimble, drummer Freddie Krc, and harmony singers Marcia Ball and Kimmie Rhodes, but in fact it’s an unspectacular track which passes with little notice. That’s true of much of the middle of the disc, from lukewarm cuts by Bob Reuter & Kamikaze Cowboy and Fear & Whiskey to a relatively routine instrumental from the Rockhouse Ramblers. The Sovines’ muddy but rockin’ live cut, “Got Away With It”, picks things back up a bit, and Ted Roddy’s “So Close, Yet So Far Away” spotlights another fine country vocalist in a league (if not range) with Walser.
Like most compilations, Edges From The Postcard 4 has its ups and downs, ultimately coming across like a mix tape assembled by a group of good friends. Which, come to think of it, is pretty much what this series was born to be.
