Farrell Jackson - The Train To Normal

Hear The Track Here

Every Saturday night you can find me propping up the bar in the Mixposure chat room while having my ears sand-blasted off my head while listening to Mike-K's exceedingly raucous Saturday Night Rocks radio show. Its the kind of place where laughs are cheap and plentiful, the music is loud and the company stimulating, so if you have never had the pleasure join people from Mix, Cygnus and ITunes and plug into the best damn rock show on the net. OK, that's probably covered the entrance charge for me - a bit of publicity works wonders I have found. I catch up with so many people there its not even funny, and one of which - Farrell Jackson - twisted my rubber arm for a review and I being the craven coward I am immediately capitulated.

What? It means I gave in OK? I feel no shame.

Farrell has a Soundclick page and until I met him on Saturday Night Rocks, was an unknown factor to me but The Train To Normal soon showed me that I had better rectify this oversight. I have to admit that, provided the work is up to absolutely scratch, I like nothing better than a good song, well sung. The best praise I can give The Train To Normal is to say that it is a great song, beautifully sung and performed even though - to be honest - it's not really my thing. Farrell is billed on Soundclick as being Acoustic Rock but to my ears this track belongs to a much longer and prouder tradition than that.

I am, as you know, quite an afficienado of pure American country music and - if I had to call it something - I would say that The Train To Normal is exactly what I would think of as country. For a start, there is the lyrical content, an American parable about life in a small town admit its endless characters. The song is based on one such character, Floyd, who jumped off a train one day and stayed for twenty years, or jumping from 'normal to freedom' according to the man himself. His story is told by Farrell half speaking, half singing the excellent lyrics, the music is easy and flowing and - if you like the style - easily a track to lose yourself in. Farrell provided all you hear, and excellent it is too but he was aided by drummer Frank Northcutt on this particular track.

American folk at its best - telling stories... Highly Recommended.