photo courtesy of Trespass Music

Album Review of Craig Bickhardt: Soliloquy: Sixteen Solo Songs

Craig Bickhardt has a classic folk singer-songwriter voice. It’s rich but a little raspy. Craig’s voice can be powerful in some instances, tender in others. He can be a storyteller, can help you feel the emotions in the lyrics, or see things from a new perspective. Craig’s voice, coupled with his detail-oriented, picture-painting lyric-writing skills, dependably result in an instant-classic collection of folk songs, and Soliloquy is no exception.

This record is just Craig, his guitar and his voice – solo, as the album title indicates. It’s an attempt to capture the intimacy of one of Craig’s acoustic performances, and it certainly does. The production of such an undertaking is extremely important, and Craig’s performance on this record is captured with a rich, full sound that plays well through speakers or headphones. Now, 16 songs is a lot, so I’ll just focus on some favorites or tracks that stand out for different reasons.

Craig opens the record with “Go Round,” with energetic finger-picking that provides an energetic opening to the album, something that’s always wise to do on a record that’ll feature a lot of softer crooning later on. Wake the audience up at the beginning! The song itself is playful, both musically and regarding wordplay, with fun lyrics like “Way back in ancient times, men had the upper hand, ’til Solomon’s seven hundred wives made a wreck of the man.”

“It Opens” is a song about embracing what comes in life, built around the chorus “It don’t look like a door. It don’t look like a door. But it opens, it opens.” Craig rolls out his raspy voice in a couple spots in this song. It seems like more, but upon closer listen, no just in a select few spots, mostly at the beginning of the verses.

image courtesy of Trespass Music

“You Take Me Home” is a pleasant love song on which Craig employs a rough-hewn vocal delivery that conveys his emotion, punctuated by guitar-picking that’s almost like a soft rain.

“The Real Game” is an energetic song about preferring baseball played for the love of the game rather than money or fame. About remembering the pure reason for enjoying the game. It has a lively tempo and is extremely catchy, though it espouses an opinion that can come off as kind of pretentious and preachy. However, given the story behind the song, I know that’s not intended, so I try to hear it a super-catchy song about the simple pleasures, unencumbered by real-life, adult complications.

“This Old House” and “Stan” are extremely well-written songs that paint vivid pictures of frequent folk song themes, at least among the better folk songwriters with the talent to pull it off. “This Old House” is an ode to a dependable house, while “Stan” is about a man who saw his livelihood disappear, as the world leaves people behind – in this case, Stan. The first of this pair of songs is pleasant and reminiscent, while the second is matter-of-factly heartbreaking.

“The Restless Kind” stands out as a particularly energetic quick-picker of a song, a song on which Craig varies his vocals more than on many of his others. It’s a peppy song that could inspire those among us who are restless souls to feel much better about their desire to avoid putting down roots or staying in one place too long. Come to think about it, it’d be nice if it inspires a few restless people to throw off their shackles. Again, the energetic delivery could certainly inspire.

I think the connection made on “Men and Rivers” is interesting. Referencing Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer in one verse, Lewis and Clark in another, Craig keeps things moving with rhythmic guitar-picking as he elucidates “the bond between men and rivers.” I suppose, much like “The Restless Kind,” this could inspire some restless souls to break free from societal expectations, as well, but more specifically as it relates to men… and rivers.

“Donald and June” is one of the best life-story storytelling song you’re ever going to hear. The pattern of the strumming and Craig’s vocal cadence do a great job of supporting his precisely-phrased lyrics to paint a vivid picture of a couple’s life together. This song is truly something special.

“Life With the Sound Turned Down” deploys a nifty little recurring guitar bit, while Craig’s delivery is energetic. There are some vocal flourishes on this song that recall, for me, another of my all-time favorite singer-songwriters, Billy Crockett (who I reviewed live here, while I reviewed one of Billy’s albums here). Mostly, though, this song will stand out because of the slightly different vocal delivery style Craig deploys on it.

Craig closes the record with another soft love song, “Where in the World.” He sets it atop the backdrop of a world on the brink, but “Just when the world’s looking painfully blue, I see a light shining through.” The guitarwork pairs the verse lines as couplets; it’s always a pleasure when guitar styles are varied, particularly on an album where that’s the only instrument on the record. You want to keep a folk album interesting over the course of 16 songs? Then you’ve gotta vary the guitar patterns, like Craig does. Have I mentioned how exceptionally talented he is? Well, I’m saying it again. Soliloquy is an inspired 16-song collection. And “Where in the World” is a sweet way to close it, leaving the listener with a warm heart and a soft smile, while acknowledging the world around us isn’t ideal.

If you’re a folk music fan, you need this record – heck, probably several Craig Bickhardt records – in your collection. If you’re not so much of a folkie, then i you only listen to one song on Soliloquy, I’d recommend “Donald and June.” While Craig’s songs are all among the best folk performances you’ll ever hear, that song is simply inspired.

More Recently

Three months ago, in February, Craig released another album, Man of Sorrows, this one a collaboration with Thom Schuyler on which a whole lot of other talented artists make appearances, as well.