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link to article here: http://www.thedelimagazine.com/nashville/index.php?name=delinashville&itemId=213609 Show Review: Ricky young @ The Mercy Lounge (3/26/09) - published April 1, 2009
It has been nearly a year since Texas native Ricky Young released his full-length album titled Learn to Steal, but the album’s effect is still resonating. On March 26, Young performed with sometimes-backing band Red White Blue at Mercy Lounge. Though Young and Red White Blue work separately in music, they draw a sizeable crowd when they collaborate and the chemistry between them onstage is evident. They played a nine-song set, several of which were old and recently reworked songs, and others that were drawn from Learn to Steal. Learn to Steal echoes with the influences of Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Wilco and all other fathers of folk as Young digs for the essence of roots music. Like roots music in general tends to do, the album exudes a hot-asphalt-in-the-summertime vibe because of Young’s unpretentious lyrics and meandering, rustic melodies.
The very Johnny Cash-like opening line of “well I got shot down…” in “Fade to Gold” and the driving, ragtime piano melody of “Poor You” illustrate Learn to Steal’s faithfulness to old genres while songs like “Acoustic Guitars” hold a lyrical resemblance to contemporaries like The Volebeats or Ryan Adams in that Young can take one small detail and create a song from it. The 10 tracks of Learn to Steal all possess a sweet youthfulness and a common-man appeal which makes them stand out on some level, but “Suitcase Afternoon” is gold. With a combination of acoustic guitar and dazed harmonica, Ricky Young tugs at a heart string on this track the way Neil Young did with “Razor Love.” Founded on slow, old-fashioned romance and Young’s charming vernacularism, “Suitcase Afternoon” is the token gem that epitomizes Young’s laid-back brand of roots. Honest lyrics and easy melodies make Learn to Steal what it is – a shimmering full-length with a tender voice and a warm soul that delivers the ultimate sound of the south. - Jessica Pace
8:11 PM
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