Wall Dogs
Tim Stafford’s and Thomm Jutz’s sophomore album is kind of like a songwriting class on CD. They really show how it’s done.
Jutz, a prolific writer and former IBMA Songwriter of the Year, does in fact lecture on songwriting at Nashville’s Belmont University. Stafford, also a an IBMA Songwriter of the Year, is a former member of Alison Krauss’s Union Station and a founding member of Blue Highway.
Some of these dozen cuts pay moving tribute to forgotten or obscure slices of Americana. The title tune, for instance, is a tribute to all the anonymous artists who painted the famous WPA murals during the Great Depression. “Banner Gals” celebrates the women who stepped up and made Gibson guitars while the men were off fighting World War II. “The Last Spike” contemplates the completion of the Trans-Canadian Railway and all the changes it wrought.
Other songs, though not propelled by straightforward narratives, are no less compelling. “Mona Lisa of the Deep” depicts a mysterious and tragic love affair. “Anywhere Else” evokes a similarly eerie mood.
“The Cross,” with its evocative word play, contemplates all the different meanings the shape of the crucifix holds for different people. The folksy “Everywhere a Mountain” is a down-home pep talk about facing the challenges life inevitably throws at us.
On half these songs the duo is joined by Mark Fain – bass, Tammy Rogers – fiddle, Ron Block –banjo, Thomas Cassell – mandolin and Dale Anne Bradley on harmony vocals. Elsewhere, it’s just Stafford and Jutz, their voices and guitars melding to near-perfection.
