When the Dust Settles
Artist:  Joel Gragg  
Label: Independent
Length:  10 tracks / 48 minutes 
 
Dodgy vocals never stopped Dylan from making a fine career, so Joel Gragg can take heart. Gragg can also write a good tune with a mix of social and personal lyrics that ask questions and enjoy plenty of imagery. Although his voice is – let’s be polite – “vulnerable” on a couple of the quieter tracks, this is a cracking album that you can play all day and still get excited by. Each track differs from the one next door and the players on this feast of folk, rock, alt-country and blues execute their roles superbly.  
 
The Indiana singer-songwriter developed his career playing in mid-west bars in his college days, before studying audio production led him to Nashville, where he spent four years as an independent engineer/producer and filled in as a touring guitarist. But rather than build his career in a straight line, he returned to Indiana to work for an audio company – where he realized what he was missing and returned to making his own music. The years spent in the studio obviously paid off, as virtually nothing need be changed in the mix or production of this release. He knows how to add character to each song, and what best brings out its feel, hence the icing of mandolins in “I Had a Dream,” and the breathing and chirping keyboard sounds on “All My Life.”
 
His MySpace site lists influences that leap up and down, shouting wildly and waving their arms. Tom Petty (along with The Cars) is all over “You Won’t Keep Me Down” like sand is over the desert, from the songwriting, chorus vocal and guitar work right to the feel of the title. Echoes of Daniel Lanois reverberate in many background studio details, particularly in the intoxicating, eastern-influenced eight-minute title track, where the bass runs wild. Buddy Miller could record the snare-rattling “Lack of Love” and it would fit in with the rest of the disc like a cricket on a leaf, right down to the low twanging guitar and marital backing vocals. A husky passion for the width of Americana is reminiscent of Neil Young, and the spirit of Bob Dylan pops up in the vocal waverings. The surprising omission in his list is Mark Heard, who is the other sound I heard in “You Won’t Keep Me Down” and what you get if you put the spiritual and musical bits of Miller and Rich Mullins in a blender and pour them out.
 
The most striking track is “Redemption Draws Nigh,” which is what you might expect from its title – a rootsy, apocalyptic, darkly joyous, tambourine-basher of a song, regularly punctuated by “Glory, hallelujah!” and all carried along on a wave of rough-edged guitar. However, this disc is one to put on and enjoy as a whole. If you take a visit to his MySpace site, the six tracks represent the disc well, and you won’t find it a waste of time.
 
Derek Walker

(but more if not for those vocal moments)