Lethbridge Herald
By Al Beeber

Rodney DeCroo is an original. An American by birth, a Canadian perhaps by
accident. He¹s lived a life nobody should have to, growing up in an abusive
home with different stepdads and a religious upbringing so strict he wasn¹t
even allowed to watch the Smurfs.

He came to Canada for the first time at the age of five with his mom and a
stepdad, a Vietnam vet who hauled the family to B.C. so he could earn a
living as a trapper.

Coming home to Pittsburgh with his mom who couldn¹t stand the bush life,
DeCroo slowly grew into the human being that would end up a fighter, a drug
and alcohol abuser and finally one of the most gifted talents to emerge from
Canada in years.

DeCroo, whose depressing, sad life was best detailed in a 2006 article by
Vancouver¹s Nerve Magazine, is proof that talent and humanity can overcome
enormous adversity.

In that article, DeCroo describes a stepdad who would get cranked up on
beer, plug a war movie into the VCR and then start waving around a pistol
outside ‹ when the guy wasn¹t beating up DeCroo¹s mom.

He recalls seeing a pink bicycle parked near his home as a child and when he
and his buddies investigated a stench coming from a basement window,
discovering the rotting corpse of a 12-year-old girl who had been raped,
burned with cigarette butts and left to die with a kerosene-soaked rag
gagging her.

He describes going berserk in a drug and booze-fuelled rage at a Cranbrook
hotel after his dad, following numerous moves around the province, decided
to pack up and leave but this time without teenaged Rodney.
The fact DeCroo is still alive, never mind thriving and creating art, is a
testament to the tenacity of the human spirit.

His latest album, ³Mockingbird Bible,² is an instant roots classic, a
melancholy trip down the streets of life seen through DeCroo¹s eyes. A
guitar, a voice, a lyric and a melody are all the tools this man needs to
penetrate the coldest heart with his music.

DeCroo didn¹t take up the guitar until the age of 33 ‹ a latecomer if there
ever was one ‹ but he¹s made up for lost a lost youth spent in drunk tanks,
a pysch ward and the B.C. bush mining for gold and fighting.

The soft-spoken, engaging British Columbian is familiar to Lethbridge
audiences since he¹s played here numerous times over the years.
His works include the engaging ³Trucker¹s Memorial² with the androgynous Rae
Spoon and his superb live album ³War Torn Man² recorded live at the old
Sidetrack Cafe in Edmonton two years ago.

War Torn Man² was a watershed piece of music that captured worldwide
attention for DeCroo, whose rise from the gutter and the psychological havoc
wreaked upon him by his upbringing is the stuff Hollywood movies are made
of.This guy knows the pain he writes about and he¹ll be back in Lethbridge Oct.
9 at The Slice with Carolyn Mark to share it.

His show will feature some of DeCroo¹s older material and new stuff from
³Mockingbird Bible² which is slicker and more produced than his live and
earlier works. The essential principles are the same; it¹s about the song and the lyric,²
he said quietly last week. This one is featuring the song in a different
way, though.²

DeCroo¹s stop here is part of a 22-venue swing through Western Canada with
the quirky and engaging Mark that focuses mainly on smaller stages.
³We¹re playing all the little towns. It¹s fun, you play smaller towns and
you get a lot of the same people coming out to the shows. Lethbridge is
always a really good time. I feel very accepted there.²

DeCroo is an artist who deserves an audience; a man who has gone through
Hell and lived to sing about it. Don¹t miss this show, folks. Don¹t miss a chance to meet this special human being.