Search - Kevin Johnson & Linemen :: Parole Music

If you love being drawn into modern country but then . . .

David Hirsh | Woodmere, NY USA | 08/01/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"From Tom Petty to Springsteen to Hank Williams to alternative, Kevin Johnson has a song for you that he makes his own. It sounds like country - but wait that's pure rock - but wait that's pure country - but that lyric is too honest for either. Worth having in your collection of cd's that you listen to."

Craftmanship and heart....sincerity and authenticity

mark helm | kensington, md | 02/10/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"kevin johnson has made my life richer. like the best songwriters, the man and the music are inseperable. i suppose some great music's come from not-so-great people...but that's by far the exception, not the rule. No, 'authentic' songwriting comes from individuals who possess more than sheer talent--it is the result of honest, hard work, done by sentient, sensitive souls who are brave and generous enough to share themselves with us. for those of you who need comparisons as a gauge (because the snipets don't do the songs justice) rest assured, kevin johnson is every bit as talented as the artists he admires--townes van zandt snd marshall crenshaw spring to mind; his work is easily on par with contemporary greats like jeff tweedy, and he has more songs on this record alone than media darling ryan adams has written to date....not to say that ryan won't get there before his [butt] gets to saggy to do jeans commmertials--thank god, there's evidence of the promise of whiskeytown's best work in the recently relased 'demolition.' "Gold," however, should be used as a coaster for your drink whe you sit down to listen to a kevin johnson record. but i digress. 'parole music' will blow anyone away who takes the time to open up and really listen to it. songs like "she changed the county station, 'blue train,' and " and 'miss lonely hearts' are the tip of an iceberg of a catalogue of hits i wish to god i had the noney to buy and flog in nashville. 'the killer pilow' and 'love blender' manage to be both amusing and painful, clever but not contrived, and the cover of buckskin stallion blues does the origial so proud i often find myself preferring this version. what too many peole don't know is that kevin represents the tip of another iceberg: a close-knit community of washington, d.c-based singer-songwriters whose talents have been so criminallty overlooked as to boggle the mind. the opener, written on my heat' is by scott mcknight, another person whose catalogue of songs is a goldmine. Outher luminaries in this scene include: The Graverobber's Karl Straub, Eric Brace of Last Train Home and Lu Bango (brother of NY 'thnking man's popster" Frank Bango, whose Kevin Johnson produced gem 'the little bang theory' is another record i do dee how i live without before it appeard in my life. if you truly care about and are enriched by great songs, then it's nothng short of insane to deprive yourself of the plesures of kevin's work, or to go through life without ever having heard karl straub's "tonite,' or "carolina," lu bango's "landing pad," or the startingly perfect record by LTH "True North." Go now, get this music. If it gives you one tenth of what it's given me, you'll feel fortunate, like someone who dicovered they've been begging in a goldmine."