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.

photo courtesy of Trespass Music

Album Review of Craig Bickhardt: Outpourings

Craig Bickhardt is a singer-songwriter who sings folk songs, sprinkled with a hint of Americana, with a rich, resonant, just slightly raspy voice and a penchant for connecting with his listeners as if he’s telling stories we’ve all heard a million times before, but perhaps with different details and not previously told quite so well. Craig is a songwriter whose songs have been recorded by a lot of major country music artists and a few from other genres, too, as you can see from the discography page on his website. As is sometimes the case with great songwriters, Craig is a talented recording artist in his own right, his musical talents providing voice and accompaniment to his own-penned musical creations.

image courtesy of Trespass Music

Outpourings is a 13-song trip with Craig’s heartfelt voice as the guide. On this record, I’d place him squarely on the folk side of Americana, though perhaps renditions that were more electric and less acoustic would raise the hint of country to greater prominence in the mix.

Opening track, “Breaking the Bread,” immediately caught my attention. Fast-picking, a warm, rough-edged vocal, and a welcoming message – “so glad you’re here, breaking the bread” – provide a welcoming entrée to the album. I hear hints (just hints) of Jim Croce in Craig’s voice, mostly in the delivery, but it’s a surefire attention-grabber.

In “Ancient Lullabies,” I hear a tone that’s more in line with the delivery soft rock piano-man Joshua Kadison used on his mellowest songs. By the end of the disc, you really just hear Craig Bickhardt, but early on you notice the presence elements you appreciate in some other great vocalists, and it helps you appreciate Craig’s vocal talent. Of course, the man’s an accomplished songwriter, so the song structure and lyrics are consistently top-shelf.

Throughout the record, Craig chooses topics that will evoke emotion, and then he paints detailed pictures with his lyrics and the emotion in his voice. There are a few songs that stand out for me; you may or may not have the same favorites.

photo courtesy of Trespass Music

In “England Or Me,” Craig sings an emotionally power-packed tale of finding love during World War II. It’s a powerful song that’ll leave a lump in your throat, even though neither Craig nor we (most of us) were around for that period of world history. The song and the story it tells, however, are timeless.

“She Won’t Be Yours Alone” is another standout track that will stick with you. It’s an uptempo song that lilts and lifts and dances its way around and through some nifty, thoughtful, clever lyrics.

“Fire in the Spirit” introduces harmony vocals from Aislinn Bickhardt Landolt that blend well with Craig’s voice to offer a new, intriguing vocal line.

“Steal Home (Letter to Curt Flood)” won’t just resonate with baseball fans who understand the importance of Curt Flood in the history of major league baseball free agency. The song soars with melancholy, particularly when the lyrics circle back to introspection.

When Craig adds some tempo to his songs, as he does in spots on “Hills of Geronimo,” another personal favorite, it adds nice variety to the album, probably the reason a song like this is memorable, though the heavy lyrics are there for anyone who chooses to listen closely.

photo courtesy of Trespass Music

“I Don’t Know About Love At All” is a pure acoustic country ballad, with Tom Hampton’s lap steel providing a lot of that country twang, though the lyrics and Craig’s delivery of them also recall open spaces, suggesting this as a song that might be poured out while sitting around a campfire if a cowboy – or a poet staying up late under the stars – were so inclined.

“If Holes Were Coins” is slow-tempo rockin’ Americana with a serious country edge. Fast picking, organ-like sound in the keywork, harmony vocals again from Aislinn Bickhart Landolt, and the odd lyrical image of “if holes were coins” combine with, probably, the song’s next-to-last position on the album to cause it to be one of those songs that stick with you after the album ends.

Craig closes the disc with a song that returns to the folk side of the spectrum, extending over a bit to the soft rock/singer-songwriter lane, with dancing keys contributing to the light feeling of “I Live For This.” The lyrics, too, seem like something you might expect to be the life motto of a songwriting folk troubadour: “Some cry for more, some die for less. I live for this.”

And with that, the album ends. It’s a mostly folk album with a few other influences popping up in spots, including a more country-flavored section toward the end of the collection. If you like folk singing and appreciate a singer-songwriter who’s a master at his craft, you’ll enjoy Craig Bickhardt’s Outpourings. I’ve certainly enjoyed getting to know this disc.

photo courtesy of Trespass Music

More Recently

Outpourings was released in January 2023, more than a year ago, and is one of the albums I felt I needed to review as I circled back to see what I missed during my 19-month writing hiatus that ended last summer. In September, Craig re-released No Road Back: A Retrospective, a 2010 album that had long been out of print. The “News” page of Craig’s website also mentions a limited-edition 26-song edition of Outpourings, double the length of the album I just reviewed. The message containing that information is more than a year old, but if you’re a Craig Bickhardt fan, it might be worth reaching out to see if any of those are still available. Of course, if you stream, you can listen to the 26-song version of the album on Spotify.

Looking Ahead

The “Tour” page on Craig’s website lists several upcoming performances, starting March 9th in Ewing, New Jersey. Additional dates spanning the rest of the year are listed in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Massachusetts. Check Craig’s website for dates, locations, and ticket information for those concerts, and be sure to circle back periodically for new dates as they’re added.