![]() ![]() An Echo Park recording, an acoustic guitar, piano and shaker support Black's voice. ![]() Slowing the tempo, Jeff is supported by a piano on the bittersweet "Time." Visiting an old flame, who doesn't "seem too amused" to see him, the narrator in "Time" sets out his store with "I see you in the morning sun, In the flight of the blue heron" and "I see in the evening sky, And I see you in my dreams." Black goes on to set a seal on this, long dead, relationship with "This song was easy to write, It just came to me last night, It only took me fifteen years."Ī matter of four minutes long and delivered semi-spoken, as "The Leaving" unfolds it captures the disintegration and termination of a relationship. While "Rain" is probably the nearest to a full on Rock track, ala Springsteen, the song possesses a discernable melody. Featuring a restrained electric guitar throughout the album title cut, Black delivers the punch line in the closing line of the final verse with, "Is it a sweeter life, By the trial we share." Subjectively the lyric, explores the scenario "If you had one last day to live, And your soul was free from doubt," what would you do? In later verses "doubt" is replaced by "fear" and "shame." Basically the song is an evocation not to waste time, but to live each and every day to its fullest extent, and to express to those near and dear to you, what your true feelings are. ![]() Six of the cuts are medium-paced, roots Rock numbers in a blue collar vein ala Springsteen/Mellencamp, while the remainder are acoustic ballads. Where, aurally, B-Sides And Confessions, Volume 1 was essentially an acoustic recording, Black is supported on Honey And Salt by a four-piece band consisting of Will Kimbrough, Joey Nardone, David Jacques and Craig Wright. Gary Paczosa, who has worked with Alison Krauss, Dixie Chicks and Nickel Creek, recorded and engineered the Tennessee sessions. The remainder of the disc, produced by Black, was recorded at Omni and Nightengale Studio in Tennessee. Echo Park Studio is owned by John Mellencamp's guitarist, Mike Wanchic, and his partner, Mark Hood. Mahern is a native of Indianapolis, where he played in the bands Zero Boys and Datura Seed. Edgar Heckmann came to the rescue, and his German-based Blue Rose label issued the disc at the beginning of 2003.Ī ten-track collection, two of the cuts - "One Last Day To Live" and "The Leaving" - were recorded at Echo Park Studios in Bloomington, Indiana and were co-produced by Black and Paul Mahern. That imprint released Black's B-Sides And Confessions, Volume 1 and in FolkWax Issue #104 we reviewed the recording, awarding it a "9." Which brings us to Honey And Salt, the shelved sophomore set. ![]() All was not lost, however, and two angels came to the rescue in the form of former Arista Austin executives Dan Harrington and Scott Robinson, who founded the independent Dualtone Records. Instead, like countless musicians before him, Black joined the lengthening queue of artists who found their music career headed for the dumpster, following the collapse/restructuring of yet another label. The story goes that circa the turn of the new century, Honey And Salt, should have been Jeff Black's sophomore release on the Arista Austin label. Palomino Blackwing and Blackwing 602 pencils. Produced and recorded by Paul Mahern and Jeff BlackĪll lyrics and music written by Jeff BlackĪll songs published by Lotos Nile Music BMIīanjos, Paige capos, Morley Pedals, Impact Picks, Electric guitar piano harmonica accordionĭavid Jacques electric and acoustic upright bassĮxcept "One Last Day To Live" and "The Leaving" ![]()
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