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Far Away Blues
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Adam Carroll Album Review:
Amazing album! at 2005-05-16
I feel lucky to have been able to grow up listening to the songs of some of the great songwriters like Guy Clark, John Prine, Billy Joe SHaver and Ray Wylie Hubbard. Just when you wonder who will be there to take there place on day Adam Carroll steps up.
Adam Carroll Album Review:
The Best New Album of the Year at 2005-11-04
No amount of praise that I can heap on this album can be effusive enough. This is a terrific record, with one great song after another. The lyrics are as crisp and clear as a perfect autumn day and the music is just wonderful. Listen to the samples, especially Allright and Low in the Mountains , High in the Pines and Buy It! You will not regret it. America needs this record to be a success so Mr. Carroll can make more records.
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South of Town
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Adam Carroll Album Review:
Fun, fun, fun from a fresh folkie with five-star talent at 2002-11-16
When a friend sent me this CD as a gift a few weeks ago, I didnt have time to listen to it right away, but I did read the lyric sheet and I wasnt terribly impressed. I thought Long songs about unlikeable losers...this might turn out to be a grim downer. My, but I was wrong. Hearing the songs, especially with Adams fine guitar and harmonica work and the backup work by several other musicians, is a totally different experience than reading the lines. Adam has attitude, but with humor. He has technique that is consistently interesting. His presentation is a pleasant variant, not quite singing and not quite talking blues. He has hints of Peter LaFarge, Tom Rush, the young Ramblin Jack Elliott, and Todd Snider without deliberately modeling himself after any of them. This is a 46-minute introduction to a singer/songwriter/guitarist who has a bright future. All 12 of the songs are worth hearing, and its rare that I find a release without two or three selections I want to skip after hearing only once. If you like folk/blues/rock and quirky individualism, give Adam a chance. The only reason I give the album four stars instead of five is that this one will be remembered for individual thoughts and lines and rhymes within each song, rather than for any one song being totally brilliant and unforgettable. Even better songwriting lies in his future, but listening to this fine release, one is positive that the masterpiece album is but a short time away.
Adam Carroll Album Review:
Not a Genius, But Dang Good at 2002-02-17
Who cares what Lloyd Maines thinks? The guy produces every third-rate talent in Texas, so it only helps his already hopelessly inflated reputation if he himself labels someone a genius as a songwriter. In this case, hes more on the mark than in his other overblown assessments of singers hes produced (and plays with). Adam is the real thing, and Maines is lucky to have been asked to join him in the studio. One can only hope Adam is smart enough to go a different route production-wise with his next CD. There are a lot of first rate producers, and Lloyd Maines isnt one of them.
Adam Carroll Album Review:
Absolutely Brilliant Texas Songwriting at 2001-12-12
Adam Carroll gained notoriety with this album, and deservedly so. I know of no one else who can apply Tibetan Bhuddism and Hinduism to the on-the-way-to-school snuff-dipping that so many of my friends and I enjoyed back in high school (from Bubble Gum). The consequences of his actions: he runs into a busload full of Tibetan monks; we played Chinese Checkers and they beat me every time. Adams songwriting, however, is not to be outdone by his guitar-playing. In many of the songs, it is hard to believe that he is playing solo. In others, his accompaniment is well-composed but is nevertheless limited. In short, the man is creative and talented beyond the dreams of most people on todays Nashville scene. I hope he makes it big there someday. Wait, no I dont, I dont want him to become the standard modern country writer or singer -- I want him to stay here in Texas and keep playing for the fans he has, not sell out to the Nashville labels. Keep up the great work, Adam.
Adam Carroll Album Review:
The best of the new generation of Texas songwriters at 2001-11-28
Lloyd Maines calls Adam a songwriting genius. As Adams producer, the producer of countless other Texas music albums, and all around top-notch musician, Lloyd oughta know. Onstage, Adam comes across as shy and totally unassuming; his voice may crack, hell forget the words sometimes, he might stop in the middle of a song and apologize for messing up, but then hell turn around and knock you out with his wierd, sad, and funny storytelling. In person, theres nothing polished or slick about him; thats what makes him great. This album has a bit more instrumentation, and I guess is a bit more slick than his second Looking out the Screendoor. But since Lloyd Maines is adding the frills its never overdone, and the songs are given plenty of room to speak for themselves. Unlike some naval gazing new Texas songwriters, Adam knows the difference between a good cliche and a bad cliche; theres a kernel of truth in all those same old stereotypes you come across around here, and if you look close enough, a kernel of wierdness. Adam takes hippies (Red Bandanna Blues), remorseful murderers (Cole and Cane River Blues), lovesickness (Fortune Teller Eyes, Silver Lakeside, Lacy), lustsickness (Pokin Round in the Ashes), homesickness (Home Again), and uh, bluegrass (Smokey Mountain Taxi), among other things, and uses them to tell stories that ring both true and absurd. Among all the new kids here writing and singing songs (and there are plenty of good ones), theres none better. Who else is gonna write a line like, I might come back as an outlaw rickshaw driver named Omar...I wanna be pickin the Hindu blues with Ravi Shankar?
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Looking out the Screen Door
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Adam Carroll Album Review:
music fan needs music education at 2006-03-28
a wonderful disc you should never be without, however statements that resemble- better than REK, Townes, and Buddy Holly are patently absurd. adam carroll is a great texas artist that definitely doesnt get an iota of the credit he deserves, I might compare him to REK (on a long shot). however when the Beatles appear on Ed Sullivan and ask in amazement-was this the same stage that Buddy Holly played on? it helps you realize the landscape change that some artists can make happen. but opinions are opinions, different strokes for different folks. in any case.........buy this album
Adam Carroll Album Review:
Diamond in the Rough at 2006-03-24
Ladies and Gentlemen, what we have here is an underground Texas singer-songwriting legend in the making. A bold statement, true, but Adam Carroll justifies it and then some with this great release. Quietly and humbly, Adam lays down some of the finest folk bluegrass youll hear anywhere. More than just another name in the sea of Americana upstarts, Carrolls music breathes pure American down-home spirit and back-porch storytelling. Without ever having met him, this album brings his personal style of songwriting and playing to you as if he were playing in your own backyard. Tongue-in-cheeck wit, an earnest appreciation of contemporary traditionalism, and a healthy smattering of romance is laid down with the perfect balance of worldy maturity and small-town naivite, making this disc - and Carroll as a whole - something youll find yourself coming back to for more and more. I cant give this release enough stars.
Adam Carroll Album Review:
Great album---great songwriter at 2005-09-14
This is a great album by Adam Carroll, a Texas songwriter in the veins of Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark or even John Prine...clever wordplay (Legs,Snow-Cone-Man), poignant observations (Race-Car Joe and humor (Screen Door, Ol Milwaukees Best, Legs again) all help shape this album... Its just the guy and a guitar and seems as if hes just whipping an old piece of paper outve his gig bag and playin the next song on the list for a group of friends and the first 6, really all of them, just go by so smooth that, on a first listen, one may think theyre listening to someone theyve known for years... Adam Carroll is a 30 year old Guy Clark, and this album from several years back is already a classic on my shelve---
Adam Carroll Album Review:
Olstyle wordsmith at 2002-11-09
Adam Carroll plays Texas folk music with witty, intelligent lyrics that bring John Prine to mind. What you get here is an acoustic guitar, some accordian, a steel guitar, and harmanica. No drums or bass, just a guy, a couple of friends and his sense of humour. The reason you dont hear too many artists like this is because theres not many who can pull off this stuff anymore. You gotta be a natural. Exellent disc. Go to lonestarmusic.com to get this.
Adam Carroll Album Review:
Down-Home Charm at 2002-01-11
This is a fine CD, on which Adam overcomes the production of the absurdly overrated Lloyd Maines. Maines is smart enough here to stay mostly out of the way, which results in a very personal release. Amandas Song, Rosemarys Song, and Girl with the Dirty Hair all shine here, and Mr. Sno-Cone Man cant help but draw smiles with each listen. This little-known singer-songwriter deserves a listen, and if he frees himself of Maines, he could really go places.
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