STEVE FORBERT : DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME

STEVE FORBERT : DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME

Clouds Roll Past The Sky
Purple Toyota
Sound Existence
Pour A Little Glitter On It, Baby
The Blues
Tomorrow Song
One Lone Leaf
Simon Says
Dixie Miles
Guilt Tripper

Label : Blue Rose

Release Date : August 16, 2024

Length : 32:43

Review (Americana Highways) : Considering when Steve made his debut in 1978 one would have to appreciate how original-sounding Mr. Forbert was. He didn’t sound like anyone at that time. Yet, he had that incisive distinctive sound as different as Dirk Hamilton, John Prine & Bruce Cockburn. In some spots, his vocals sound strained when it’s part of his anxious charm (“Purple Toyota,” & “The Blues”). It makes the songs that much more intense & deliberately persuasive. This 10-track 21st LP Daylight Savings Time (Drops Aug. 16/Blue Rose/32:43) produced by Steve Greenwell is a bright showcase & is as usual, filled with Steve’s poetic, lyrical magnetic melodies generated from a place few singer-songwriters manage to navigate. Yes, yes, it’s just songs big deal. But some people succeed in communicating through their pen the ways artists do with their paintings. Judy Collins is a legendary singer & interpreter of songs but her forays into writing originals aren’t as well-fleshed out as Joni Mitchell, Dylan, folk singer Ferron, or Steve Forbert. Steve (vocals/acoustic guitar/harmonica) from the beginning with songs like “Romeo’s Tune,” “Cellophane City,” “Say Goodbye To Little Jo,” “You Can Not Win If You Do Not Play,” “On the Streets of This Town,” captured many memorable pieces. He wasn’t as hard to invite into one’s ears as a novice would have with Bob Dylan, not as squeaky clean as Kenny Loggins, not as raw-voiced as Billy Falcon or as over-the-top rocking & wordy as Bruce Springsteen. I lost touch with Steve’s music for a while but when I heard “Running On Love,” I came back & lost touch again until the marvelous “Evergreen Boy” grabbed my ear like a vice. No, this guy Steve Forbert belonged on constant rotation. And he did with Marc Cohn, Joe Henry & John Prine. He’d been ill but judging from the music on this set he’s bounced back artistically & as well as Alejandro Escovedo has. I feel Steve transcended the “folk” tag. He invented & sculpted his genre of songwriting finesse in how he manages his words & music. And if not that, songs like “Guilt Tripper” will bend a toe on the dance floor. Steve’s still a troubadour & he’s persevered. His music is seasoned & has lucidity. But it always comes back to the presentation, the showcase…Steve’s voice. He knows how to deliver his compositions with fluency. Judging from the body of work he’s already accomplished Steve Forbert matters. He’s been on the “canvass” but he’s up on his feet with both musical fists poised for another era.

Review (Rocking Magpie) : Steve Forbert is fixin’ to turn 70 years old soon and has been writing songs since he’s 17. He’s recorded 20 studio albums and a bunch of live records as well. He’s been in my musical life as long as I can remember, and I remember everything! I have seen ads for his shows in The Village Voice and all over NYC in those years so to say that Steve Forbert is the definition of a “hardcore troubadour” is an understatement. He’s also a dedicated, talented, humble servant of song, Forbert is a shining beacon of hope in the ever-shifting tectonic plates of our musical earth. Daylight Savings Time is Forbert’s third album helmed by producer/engineer Steve Greenwell, and the basic tracks were cut live at Greenwell’s studio in Asbury NJ, where Steve now resides, with drummer Aaron Comess (Spin Doctors) and keyboard player Rob Clores (Jesse Malin, The Black Crowes, Tom Jones). Bass lines were added long distance by Byron House (Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Johnny Cash, Al Green, The Dixie Chicks, Band of Joy) and the beautiful, tasty guitar work was contributed by Gurf Morlix, (Lucinda Williams) from his home studio just outside Austin, Texas. In my humble opinion, the record is literally Forbert at his best. 10 perfect “pop-folk songs” that telegraph Steve Forbert’s prowess as an elegant wordsmith whose voice has been seasoned with time, talent and treasure to deliver what feels like melodic candy from the tippy-top of songwriter mountain. There are even times when I detect a hint of Vic Chesnutt in his vocal, and that’s always a beautiful thang. “Clouds Roll Past The Sky” kicks off the album and immediately launches us into a collection of songs that feel instantly familiar and dare I say, Classic? Each song belongs on a mix-tape for someone you’re eager to impress or express affection for — a tenderness as well as a secret message of the natural world that conjures colors, feelings, moods and desires. Elemental & complex. Delicious & satisfying. Daylight Savings Time serves the listener very much like yoga opens the body; enabling posture to straighten, the heart to grow and to beat strong and free, the lungs to clear, bringing fresh oxygen and blood to the brain — increasing fertile thoughts and new ideas. Imagine that! An entire record that expands and broadens our scope in a time when we are constantly being compressed and contracted into tiny knots and compartments on our not-so-personal devices. “Pour a Little Glitter” got me on my feet and dancing a la The Archies with “Sugar, Sugar.” “The Blues” follows that sweet party song with a smack of reality, wrapped in another happy sounding ditty. It reminds me that Townes Van Zandt used to say that “there are two kinds of music….the blues and zip-a-dee-doo-dah.” Amen brethren. Steve Forbert gets it! “Simon Says” is a highlight for me. What can I say, I like silly kid games. This tune is so much more than it seems. Forbert really sends it all home with this bluesy “exit strategy” tune that talks about getting out with your socks up. Lyrically it’s simple but oh my this song is very layered. Each song carries nature in it’s heart and you really get the overwhelming sense that this brilliant, sensitive artist understands the trajectory of life’s complicated ride. The appreciation for the natural world is the job for an experienced observer like Steve Forbert. A subtle tap on the shoulder to the eyes wide shut crowd, blazing down the road, blinded by all that glitters and racing toward a finish line that doesn’t exist. Daylight Savings Time ends with “Guilt Tripper,” a rhythmic, riffin’ romp that feels like a Traveling Wilbury’s tune with a socially conscious lyrical message to hammer the door closed on an outstanding record that I will happily play over and over, and share with good friends. A wistful, Walt Whitman-esque experience set to music? All played by brilliant musicians who know that they are working with a poet. A craftsman. A bard. A generous gentleman and an artist who has been sharing his innermost thoughts and ideas with us for five decades and has not missed a beat. Daylight Savings Time is proof positive that yes, while the music industry might be unrecognizable from what it used to be, the life and mind of the true artist, the authentic, real-deal songwriter and touring musician is alive and thriving in vibrant hues and melodies in the consistently first-class work of Steve Forbert. His songs, his voice, his community of music makers and his love of life all shine bright in Daylight Savings Time. Don’t miss it!