Middle-aged musicians often make albums where they long for the glory days of their youth, or, worse yet, pretend they never ended, or even worse, sound like they learned nothing along the way.
Bob Walkenhorst, former singer and songwriter from 1980’s rock group the Rainmakers, has teamed up with fellow Kansas City musician (and musical bud for the past 6 years) Jeff Porter for their first release as a duo (duh), Walkenhorst and Porter. “No Abandon” is a collection of 11 songs about that immortal subject for mortals, mortality.
“We thought of calling the CD “Death”, but thought that might sound too commercial,” says Walkenhorst.
What you get is observations about being more than half-way through the journey, not regretting a second, and being determined to pay attention and squeeze every drop from what you have left. Sideways traditional, familiar but not predictable, these are acoustic guitar/2-part harmony songs that might have been written last week, or a century ago. A few echoes of the Carter Family, and Paul and Art, even the neighborly Ozark Mountain Daredevils, mix with Bob and Jeff’s acoustic-rockers common sense and sensibility.
Standout tracks - “No Abandon”, a cryptic but emotionally clear painting about the joy of the journey, “Sinking Hour” - the ghost of A.P. Carter is smiling down on this one, “Stay Ahead of the Wolves” - dangerously close to falling into “wind beneath my wings” territory (it doesn’t) , a soaring beautiful melody about, what else, Keeping On. And “Hey Bird”, Porter’s jazzy acoustic tune about chasing the song and the girl.
No filler, or light entertainment here. This is the real stuff, about the real stuff.
To order the CD "No Abandon", go to
www.villagerecords.com/product_info.php?products_id=5762