C Daniel Boling NEW OLD FRIENDS

C Daniel Boling
New Old Friends
Berkalin Records

A Voice That Has Lived a Full Life and Has Stories to Tell

I wasn’t sure which album to write about today, so after pondering over the 7 or 8 albums being released later this week, C Daniel Boling ‘s NEW OLD FRIENDS somehow caught my attention.
Remembering that each song is a co-write with The Legendary Tom Paxton; and when I’d first received it; the first couple of songs I played last week, back into the hi-fi it went.
That first song, Get a Life! made me smile.
Which is always a good start.
Name checking John Prine and featuring Tom Paxton on backing vocals and guitar while Boling’s friend Jeff Scroggins picks a mean banjo on a song that will appeal to music fans of all ages and musical denominations.
Listening again today with the sun shining in through the windows; this album of the Classic Folk style we associate with Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs and Ewan MacColl as well as 100 other ‘coffee shop singers’; but so few carrying on the tradition in 2023.
As you’d expect with Tom Paxton at the helm and Daniel recording his 9th album; the songwriting, while deceptively simple is actually quite exceptional and the arrangements follow suit too.
Much of the Folk Music I receive is quite po-faced and the singer/songwriter taking themselves far too seriously in their quest to prove themselves in front of their peers.
Here, while the subject matter can be deeply personal and serious; Old Friends as an example is about the singers’ boyhood friend who goes to war and comes back ‘changed’ … nothing new there you may think; but this particular song reels you in and doesn’t let you loose until the final notes fade into the ether.
I wasn’t sure what to expect the first time I saw the title Bear Spray and Barb Wire; but this tale of being out in the back of beyond and accidentally puncturing the can of Bear Spray. Who knew Folk Music could be so much fun?
Of course it’s a ‘given’ that l.o.v.e makes an appearance several times; and C Boling Daniel really does handle it with care.
The keys finds our narrator reminiscing about his life via the various cars he’s owned; which is a pretty cool thing to do and I can imagine many people (myself included) smiling while we do the exact thing after hearing this song.
Tucked away in the middle, where you’d least expect it is the rambunctious toe-tapper My Hick Pick-up. A smartly observed and fun song that features some of the funkiest banjo I’ve heard in many a year.
We Can Still Waltz follows a similar path with Boling being grateful that, regardless of the aches and pains and faulty body parts; he can still manage a short waltz on a Saturday night.
It’s not funny-haha; but ironically funny that songs like the jaunty This Town Has No Cafe, How Did You Know and especially Of You and Me are so obviously aimed at a mature demographic, who like ‘looking back’ more than ‘looking forward’ …. and then I realised that I am now that age too! When did that happen?
While there are many treasures here of various hues; and overall the word ‘delightful’ springs to mind; two songs have really, really captured my heart and they will yours too.
We all know someone that fits The Quiet Ones like a velvet glove; I certainly do that’s for sure and that easily makes this incisive song a Favourite; not least because of the bewitching guitar throughout.
The other is probably the saddest song here; and features some stinging harmonica too; and that’s Friendless Heart. The type of song that catches you unawares; as you didn’t think anyone else anywhere in the world felt …. but here it is in both words and music.
Not only is this pure and simple Folk Music; C Daniel Boling instills every square inch of his songs with the soul of Americana that so many younger singers strive for but miss by a Country mile.
In C Daniel Boling we have a singer with a voice that has lived a full life and has stories to tell, that we all want to hear.

Released August 25th 2023
https://danielboling.com/

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