Randy Casey - Record Time
Randy Casey
Record Time
8/10
By Decibel Report - Apr 11, 2021
Recorded in less than twenty-four hours of studio time at Uptown Sound, Minneapolis, Record Time is about as apposite an album title as one can put a name to a recording produced on such a tight time scale.
If there’s been an upside then Lockdown has certainly afforded concentrated time for many artists to focus on various projects, however, Casey has taken his determination to the extreme, and in very short order, on this charming blend of eleven all original rootsy country/folk-blues songs. He’s even eschewed any musical assistance from sidemen by playing all the instruments himself. This pared-down stripped back set harks back to simpler times when studio tricks and big arrangements were considered high-falutin’!
And, boy, the song melodies, messages, and musicianship of this one-man-band recording shine like a re-assuring beacon to guide the mind in these troubled times.
Launching into opener Deep End, Casey’s relatable voice translates the current neuroses of the lockdown and how the bottomless pit of the global pandemic has affected many of us. Follow-up song Sleep gets deeper under the skin of the psychodrama of these times. This collection of true-blue narratives communicates to the lonely and outsiders trying to keep their heads afloat in these stormy times. Teach Me To Fall Down and the smartly sardonic I Don’t Like You Anymore are a songwriting tutorial in themselves reminding of artists like Walter Egan. In fact, Casey has often been likened to Leo Kottke for his exquisite acoustic guitar skills with which he impressively backs up these top-notch tunes.
As a safe refuge in troubling times, Back On The Blues details a place to fall, where many have before, for solace accompanied by a woeful slide motif. Dead Wrong nails a trad blues feel with a vocal delivery akin to Hank Williams adding breadth to the geography of the blues stylings on this follow up release to 2018's I Got Lucky; as does the upbeat I Got Lucky with its chugging rhythmic beat.
There’s salvation in these songs for those looking for it and it’s Casey's lyrical companionship that befriends and rewards the listener. It's a bonafide sign of a true and thoughtful songwriter who can journey inside to those off-limits private areas of hurt and doubt as he turns raw emotions into compositional gold that anybody can relate to. He does as much on It’s About Love which reminds me of Kris Kristofferson at his revealing best.
The nifty acoustic blues instrumental Graceland Kiss rounds off a deeply enjoyable and excellent album.
Just one more thing, as a sign of his generous social conscience Randy’s donating half the proceeds of this record to the U.S. Equal Justice Initiative - a solid case of really putting your money where your mouth is!
