Bruce Robison “11 Stories”
Since I’m a big fancy music reviewer, I decided I’d do a little research on my current music review contestant, Bruce Robison, before I reviewed “11 Stories.” I found out that Bruce had some interviews and videos on CMT.com’s 360. Pretty cool, in that this amateur hack could look like he’s in the know as to what Bruce is thinking without actually having to travel to Bandera to interview him. (If Van expects better from his music reviewer, he really should pay me more) But then I ran into a problem, for every question they asked, they had a different clip complete with it’s own commercial at the beginning. Wouldn’t be so bad, but it was the same commercial for the same ladies razor. Sure, it makes my legs silky smooth, but I only needed to hear about it 568 times before I bought it, not 1,897 times. I also read another review that stated it had been 4 years since his last CD. Let’s see, this year is 2006, “Country Sunshine” came out in 2001. 2006 minus 2001 equals, let’s see, carry the one, divide by the hypotenuse (OK, I didn’t divide by the hypotenuse, I just like to say hypotenuse, easily the funniest geometry term out there) well, my calculator comes out at 5 years. But what do I know; I’m just a bookkeeper who moonlights as a music reviewer. So what has Bruce been up to these last 5, or is it 4, years. Well, he’s been the good husband to Kelly Willis (lucky bastard), taking care of their kids, making cameo appearances in Kelly’s videos, (again, lucky bastard) and making allergy relief commercials. All in all, not a bad gig if you can get it.
I popped the new CD in but I was doing laundry at the same time, so I didn’t really get a good listen to the 1st track. (Honestly, if Van expects better, he should hire a professional) But here’s what I did pick up, it’s a song about a girl with strawberry hair. Sounds like a hit to me. The next track is a classic Bruce song. If someone came up to me and wanted to know what Bruce was all about as a songwriter, I’d play this song. “Virginia” is one of the songs that Bruce talked about on the aforementioned CMT 360. After I bought a Ladies Schick Quattro, I listened to what he had to say. Basically this song comes from him growing up in Bandera where no girls would give him a second look and what would have happened if he had stayed there in town. Musically this song reminds me of “First Thing About Mary” from his previous CD. On to the 3rd track. Ah, the 3rd track, the one that has every review I’ve seen so far is up in arms about. See, it’s a cover of Jerry Garcia. That’s right, the great songwriter Bruce Robison covers the head dead head Garcia. I actually like the song. I’ve heard some people say that this song and the other covers ruin the CD but I think it fits well and is a good addition to the CD. The 4th track is the 2nd of 3 covers. This one is from Webb Pierce, who some of you old timers might remember from the 50’s. As you would expect this is a classic country type song with harmonies from Kelly. For the 5th track I’ll give the opening lyrics:
1..2..3..4..
Some days I just wanna cry
Oooohhhh, but the days go by
On the corner of 5th and Vine
Ooooohhhh with a bottle of wine
Well, the song only gets better from there. The 6th track is titled “All Over But the Crying,” and the title tells you all you need to know about this song. Actually, I think this song is the sequel to “Angry All the Time.” Come on Tim and Faith, Bruce and Kelly have another mouth to feed and they need some more royalty checks to feed their ever-growing clan of little musicians. Track number 7 is another great one, but I’ll move on to track 8, “You Really Let Yourself Go.” It’s about an ex that doesn’t miss him and is painting the town red. (As apposed to REK’s painting the town beige, man I love that song) Is there anything worse than an ex that doesn’t miss you? This song says not. “I Never Fly” is a great acoustic song. It’s one of those that fancier arrangements would have ruined the song. I think cut 10 was written at my house. It’s about a guy listening to the rain come down in his kitchen, and my kitchen leaks when it rains. It had to be written at my house. The last story (remember, this is 11 stories) is the last of the covers and is called “Bandera Waltz.” Obviously, it’s attempt to help out the hometown Chamber of Commerce. Speaking of which, can I give a shout out the Greensburg Chamber of Commerce? Of course I can, I’m writing it, so here’s to Greensburg, home of the world’s largest had dug well and birth place of one Heath Kirk.
So what have we learned today, that even though I gave Van a hard time about not getting paid enough, it’s very evident that I’m vastly overpaid, 11 stories should be your next CD purchase, Bruce married up when Kelly said “I Do,” the word “hypotenuse” is a funny word and the Schick Quattro keeps your legs silky smooth. If you don’t live in TX, you can get this CD at lonestarmusic.com or milesofmusic.com, if you live in TX, you can probably get it at your local music store.