Unfinished Bridges
This top-notch quintet out of southern New England has been around since 2013, and on their third album (produced by Scott Vestal) they are in top form with stalwart lead vocals and harmonies, fine picking and provocative songwriting.
The band, which was the official IBMA Showcase Band in 2021, consists of: Billy Thibodeau on mandolin, Austin Scelzo on fiddle, Rick Brodsky on bass, Alex MacCleod on guitar and Joe Deetz on banjo.
The title tune is a tour de force (penned by Mark “Brink” Brinkman and Eric Gnezda). It captures the anguish of a couple stranded somewhere between in love and out of it. The harmonies, as on quite a few other cuts, are superb. “Lonesome Man in a Lonesome Town” (cowritten by Thibodeau and Stanley Jordan Keach, Jr.) is the moving plaint of an ex-con fresh out of prison and down on his luck.
“Let Me Be Your Best Bible” is a wholly unique gospel number written by founding member McCleod about his devout grandmother, who taught the gospel by living it.
On the compelling “Town Hall Clock” (composed by Sam Tidwell) the band also demonstrates its instrumental accomplishment. Dipping into the past, Rock Heart puts a delightfully old-timey stamp on a Bailes Brothers oldie called “Send Me Your Address in Heaven.” They also deliver on the honky-tonkish “I Know It’s Wrong to Love You,” cowritten by Don and David Parmley and previously recorded by the Bluegrass Cardinals.
Other stand-out tracks include the traditional “Pretty Little Bird,” the nostalgic “Tall Stands of Timber” (Rick Lang and Theodore Chase DeMille) and the heartbroken “I Hardly Never Ever Think of You,” cowritten by Thibodeau and Tom Bryant.
