Mike Prather - These Wounds

Hear The Track Here

As a certified old geezer, the musical roots I share with everybody else on the planet are not an intellectual exercise for me to reconstruct. Those roots are woven into the very fabric of my life and memories so when I make comparisons to artists from a bygone era, its usually because I remember those artists initial impact on me. American country music has long held a fascination for me, and this track reminds me of two of its giants; both treading the same tortuous musical path, although at tangents to each other. Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash would, I consider, be something awesome to be compared with, so - being said certified old geezer - you'd think I'd be careful about throwing such hyperbole before your astounded eyeballs.

Don't be looking at me like that.

Well, obviously, you haven't heard the track yet, otherwise you'd be going 'oh yeah, I see that' instead of being - what was it now? - astounded. Speaking of outstanding, These Wounds has some pretty big boots to fill based on that premise but it lives up to it. When you are just one guy, his guitar and voice there isn't a lot you can do in the way of flash and glitter so all the action has to be carried by the songs and that is - partly - what made both Dylan and Cash happen. They also had very distinctive voices to go along with their biting, penetrating lyrics into the state of the American nation and its in the songwriting and delivery that Mike Prather fills them big boots more than adequately.

As a traditional folk track, These Wounds, breathes authenticity out of every note, this is the way it used to be. A song that speaks of the human condition that could cut across all boundaries and mean the same thing whether you were Indian or Inuit. Its a beautifully restrained, obviously heartfelt tale of the wounds we inflict on each other as we go through life, sometimes seeing but more often being completely unaware of our effect on those we share our lives with. Don't think one guy, a guitar and a voice could entertain and intrigue you any more? Are you jaded about the meaning of music today? This answers all those questions and more. Beautiful and as simple as they come.

Great folk song (yep!) MUST HAVE.