Ok so I was going to write a nice long post about a new folk artist that I discovered about a week ago Caleb Stine, then came the NFL Draft and somehow my night has slipped by and the Eagles still haven’t picked! Anyway Stine’s album I Wasn’t Built for this Life has been playing a lot on the iPod and each time I listen “I like the album more! Stine from Baltimore is a great crafter of song spinning tales of life. From his website: Honest Tune Magazine says that Stine’s music lays,
“…..somewhere between the renegade cowboy-poetry of Townes Van Zandt and the sweet rough and tumble sound of Neil Young’s Harvest. The power in his music comes not from overwhelming volume or violent guitars, but from simple strums and carefully measured words that together carry an army of unmatched strength.”
I Wasn’t Built for a Life Like This, Stine’s 5th full-length album, is a collection of ten-unflinchingly direct songs in which Stine continues to tell the story of his exploration in what he calls, “an evolving and eroding America. “ The New Yorker calls this direct approach, “appropriately train-like, steady and powerful.” Twangville.com says of the album, “Easily the best self-released record this year, IWBFALLT is a great display of songwriting and, perhaps just as importantly, album making.”
Stand out tracks for me include: “My Service isn’t Needed Anymore”
I love the imagery created in the opening verse and the rest of the song is just as good!
I’m scattered like change on the bedroom floor,
my nerves are shot my site is poor
I’m folded like a sweater in the bottom drawer,
guess my service isn’t needed anymore.
The there’s “Doing Time in Baltimore” a song about substance abuse,
the title track “I Wasn’t Built For a Life Like This” an autobiographical song about his life… and I think he was built for a life like this! Another song with great imagery is “Woman in Mango”. Again as I write this I think I forgot this song or that song… just check out the whole album!!
The Baltimore City Paper says:
“His music and sincerity are so intertwined that it’s difficult to imagine one without the other.”
You can check out his music at Amazon or CDBaby
ok Eagles are on the clock!! Danny Watkins OG – ok???
Here’s Caleb with “My Service Isn’t Needed Anymore”
