Guy Clark
Somedays The Song Writes You
Review By Steven Stone
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  Songwriting is hard work – just ask anyone who tries to do it for a living. Guy Clark has managed to accomplish just that for over thirty years. His latest album features material written in collaboration with other songwriters. The results demonstrate that choosing the right creative partner makes a world of difference.

The ten originals and one cover on Somedays the Song Writes You feature Guy Clark's well-worn vocals. With an edge like 800 grit sandpaper, and a delivery as dry as the Texas panhandle, Clark's voice shares the "aw shucks" delivery style of fellow Texan Willie Nelson. Also like Nelson, Clark never seems to exert himself when he sings, yet the final results are more powerful than anything you'll hear from any of today's disposable pop divas.

The songs on Somedays the Song Writes You are nothing short of superb. "The Guitar" co-written by Clark and the CD's guitarist Verlon Thompson tells the archetypical tale involving a pawnshop, old guitar, and destiny with Thompson's acoustic guitar solo burns with an almost ghostly intensity.  "Hemingway's Whisky," co-written by Clark, Joe Leather, and Ray Stephenson, captures the allure of the grain delivered straight with no chasers. "Eamon," co-written by Clark and Rodney Crowell, uses a seafaring theme to tell a story of universal longing. The only cover, Townes Van Zandt'sclassic  "If I Needed You," fits in among Clark's originals like a well roughed-up baseball in an old catcher's mitt.

The core band for Somedays the Song Writes You includes Verlon Thompson on guitar, harmony vocals, and harmonica, Bryn Davis on upright bass and harmony vocals, Kenny Malone on percussion, and the gifted songwriter Shawn Camp on mandolin and fiddle. With a line-up like this you don't need guest musicians. Recorded, mixed, mastered, and co-produced by Chris Latham, Somedays the Song Writes You proves all you need are few of the right collaborators to create a stellar album.

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