Artist: Ed Rawlings
Album: A Foolish Inconsistency
Released: 2024
Website: https://edrawlingsmusic.com/
Ed Rawlings is a 40 year veteran of the San Francisco Bay Area music scene. With roots in New Wave and Punk and a clear Surf Rock influence he has created an instrumental guitar gumbo that is uniquely his own blend. He has a fantastic band backing him up on the 12 tracks on this recording consisting of bassist Uriah Duffy, drummer Jeff Campitelli and keyboardist Nick O’Connor. Michael Rosen assumed the role of producer. The album was recorded at East Bay Recorders in Oakland, CA. It's twelve cuts clock in at about 40 minutes, sticking with short compositions that get the point across quickly and effectively.
The Long Way Around is one that I gravitate to as a standout. The intro has a Beatles-esque quality to it that then moves into something else entirely, that I struggle to define, which in itself is what makes it an interesting listen. A clever, yet simple arrangement keeps the listener engaged throughout this concise three minute masterpiece. It is the simplicity of Ed's playing that I find myself most drawn to. If the point can be made with simplicity, why complicate it? So few guitarists are able to put that into practice, but Rawlings seems to have an innate understanding of that pearl of wisdom.
Arrival is another interesting piece. The consistent thread throughout this album is great guitar tone and well written compositions performed by a very competent outfit that all know their roles in the mix. When the guitar tone is dialed in like Rawlings has it, one can get away with playing almost nothing. Great music can normally be defined in terms of is the artist telling the truth or is it being embellished? The truth is normally quite simple as is so much great music, this wonderful track included.
If I had to choose one track that summarized the overall effort Lands End is the cut. Basically a blues track, but not "the blues" at all, which I mean as a compliment. Just as many of the classic surf cuts were blues songs in form, but not so much in performance. The reverb drenched guitar is a throwback to a much different musical environment than what exists today, but by no means is the track straight surf or blues. It is like The Verve flirting with the blues while still digging Dick Dale. If David Gilmour were going to try his hand at something surfy I think it would sound like this!
The compositions and playing on this album are always tasteful before anything else, leaving the guitar acrobatics at the door. When guitar players make instrumental records they all too often seem to make them to impress other guitar players. There are no shortage of fantastic shredders, but there is a shortage of ones that can write songs that do not require a musician's ears to be appreciated. In the tradition of players like Dick Dale and Lonnie Mack, instrumental guitar became very accessible to most music fans' ears. Ed Rawlings embraces this spirit while putting his own spin on the many influences that are apparent. He seems to float somewhere in the cracks of surf, rockabilly, and country soul. His earlier influence of punk and new wave subtly show their face, if you know that's where his roots are. However, I hear a far more seasoned musician than those genres typically produce. But he still has that spirit of freedom that punk music wears as a badge of honor in his music. Fans of the mature side of instrumental guitar music will definitely enjoy this release.
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