Album Review: "Old White Men" (Vance Gilbert)

New England folk singer Vance Gilbert He sings about life and love and in the genre of folk music where the majority of performers are white, (Gilbert being an African-American along with a musical background starting in jazz) Gilbert has a nice fusion of folk, jazz, blues, and R&B with his latest release, "Old White Men." Prior to this release, Gilbert spent a year and a half travelling with the late, comedic genius George Carlin. Before that, Gilbert had made a name for himself in the 90s on the New England folk circuit appearing at open mic nights and one of these performances caught the attention of Shawn Colvin who asked Gilbert join her national tour. "Old White Men" is his tenth album.

01. Boy On A Train
02. Dragonfly Wings
03. No One Can Love You Like Mary
04. Old White Men
05. King Of The Rails
06. Helpless Man
07. New Year's Day At The Lion's Head Hotel - Hourly Rates
08. You Should Be Here
09. Go
10. Come Here My Love
11. The Brakeman's Son
12. My Bad

"HELPLESS MAN"
A punch to the gut of a song of a fall from grace. I think it's in this song that the fusion of Gilbert's jazz background with blues and folk is at the strongest on the album. It is as tragic of a song as it is gruff. Here's the song for your listening pleasure.


"COME HERE MY LOVE"
The sheer simplicity of just Vance and his electric guitar shines in this track. Where "Helpless Man" incorporates drums, bass and a sax to give Gilbert's story of a fall from grace more weight, "Come Here My Love" is the complete opposite. Just a man, his guitar and some really beautiful words make for the second standout track on this album. Give it a listen yourself.


Part of the experience of learning about Vance Gilbert for me is reading his blog as much as listening to his latest album. I have great appreciation for artists who actually have the time to write on their personal blogs. Whether it is a string of sentences or a story, I just think it adds a layer of getting to know them beyond their creations that are pressed into albums or what we see on the screen. Gilbert's honesty is in his blog postings as much as they are in his songs. I have said the same about "Sons Of Anarchy" Kurt Sutter. What Gilbert has in common is that they do not hold back any words. One of Gilbert's posts is a definite must-read as he shares with you his personal experience of being a victim of racial profiling. It isn't a pre-req or supplemental to listening to his latest album, but I feel it is just a very worthy reading. Gilbert has drawn comparisons to Tom Waits and Cat Stevens, I would suggest adding the names of Michael Franti and Jackson Browne into that mix. It's a likeness to these great singer/songwriters mixed with Gilbert's amazing talent that makes "Old White Men" for a good listen.

Vance Gilbert (official website)

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