January 14, 2011
Musician rolls gracefully through ‘Red Dirt Road’
Mark Bennett The Tribune-Star The Tribune Star Fri Jan 14, 2011, 05:00 AM EST
TERRE HAUTE — Dust and gravel never seemed so smooth.
The new album by Terre Haute musician and songwriter Paul Bertsch, “Red Dirt Road,” rolls gracefully through 58 minutes of deft guitar work, introspective lyrics and pleasant melody lines. There isn’t a pothole on the disc, just 12 likable songs by a guy with savvy classic-rock chops. It’s a momentary stop at life’s halfway point to look in all directions and recalculate the internal GPS.
Musically, some of its style reflects inspiration from Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Jimmy Buffett. Still, the hints of those icons in a handful of songs aren’t a detour from the rest of the CD. Each tune blends neatly into the next, with Bertsch leading the way, vocally and instrumentally.
Ultimately, “Red Dirt Road” leads to Mozambique. Bertsch spent part of last spring in that nation in southeastern Africa on the Indian Ocean coast. The title track — the strongest in the collection — opens with an Easter-morning recording of the women’s choir at Foursquare Church in Milange, Mozambique, before kicking into an infectious guitar hook and anthem-like chorus that Young would be proud to claim. The only disappointment is that the choir recording sounds a bit too distant; otherwise, it’s a clever gem.
Lyrically, the fourth track, “Change of Pace,” stands out, with Bertsch adroitly assessing midlife. He sings, “Some folks can bless you just by bein’ in their space; some make you long for a change of pace.” Besides its ponderous theme, “Change of Pace” is just plain catchy.
The album doesn’t lose steam toward the end of its path. Its spiritual high point comes at Track 10, a brave submission to love, “What Can I Do For You?” With a taste of Dylan-esque imagery and a snazzy harmonica intro, Bertsch declares, “I don’t jump from airplanes, or go grabbin’ tigers’ tails; I’m too scared of heights, and those cats don’t clip their nails; I don’t play the horses, or believe in horoscopes; I guess I don’t take many chances, I’d rather have a surer hope, like the love that you have given me.”
He gets solid backing from Dan Lampton (who also recorded the disc) on mandolin, Neal Wagner on bass, David Tyra on electric guitar and John Dufek on drums. Bertsch handles lead vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, piano, plugged-in keyboards and the blues harp. Together, they get plenty of opportunities to flex their skills, especially on “Prevailing Winds,” which clocks in at a hefty 6 minutes and 56 seconds, and “Soul Combine,” the 5-minute, 57-second penultimate cut.
By the end of “Red Dirt Road,” Bertsch has worked through any fortysomething restlessness and finishes with a gentle, glowing, romantic celebration of contentment in “A Life.” Over shimmering chord changes, he looks ahead and behind and then concludes, “Alone no more, since I found you; if we’re still here tomorrow, you and I will see it through.”