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Bill Hammond is a prime example of this problem. In his area on MP3.com he describes himself as an easy listening artist and classifies most of the songs using the oxymoronic genre of soft rock. The latter brings to mind '70s groups like Air Supply or Captain and Tennille; "rock" that doesn't really rock. Hammond's music doesn't rock, but doesn't fit my image of soft rock either. The easy listening label has some merit in that a large number of the tunes on Skywriter are instrumental cuts that work well as non-demanding background music. But easy listening can imply lush orchestral arrangements rather than these more sparse arrangements that frequently highlight Hammond's guitar picking. One of the Rockzillaworld writers saw Hammond give an impromptu performance during a layover at the Charlotte airport and described him as a singer-songwriter, which is a good description, at least on those songs where the singer part applies. Ultimately, whether the result is good or bad, if an artist aims for originality the music won't neatly fit the pigeonholes we've designed to categorize them as they borrow aspects of several genres to craft something a little different. Hammond opens Skywriter with a medley of "Raven," an instrumental, classical guitar piece, and "Gitchi Gummi" which those old enough to be familiar with Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" know is the Indian name for Lake Superior. This is fellow Minnesotan Peter Mayer's tribute to his home state's Great Lake. Instrumental numbers include the aptly named "Renaissance Blue" and "Erica Suite," written in memory of Hammond's late daughter, Erica. Kendra and Alex, Hammond's other daughters, also have a song dedicated to them, the bittersweet instrumental, "Letter From Home." "Route 66/35" is a modernized version of "Route 66," adding additional lyrics to the original. This standard has been recorded in almost every style imaginable, in this case an upbeat folk style with acoustic guitar as the primary accompaniment with a small infusion of Cajun influenced accordion in the background. So friends, well get hip to this timely tip Well it runs from Duluth to Mexico The liner notes for "Rhubarb Pie" say, "Burl Ives could have been a habitual liar. You never know." (Bet you never expected you'd ever see a Burl Ives reference in a Rockzillaworld review). Sung in a pop-folk style that would have been a good fit for Ives, you can sing along if you want. You'll have to imagine the bouncing ball. I remember rhubarb pie Actually there was no pie Bill Hammond's Skywriter stretches the boundaries of Rockzillaworld's typical coverage in a direction it isn't normally stretched. My preferences normally lean to the lyrically meaningful, so I was surprised to realize in this case my favorite tracks were largely the instrumentals that showcased Hammond's guitar playing. If you enjoy classical or fingerstyle acoustic guitar, you'll want to explore this one further. *Samples of most of these songs can be found at www.mp3.com/billhammond
To purchase send $15.00 to Bill Hammond, 993 Roma Ave., Roseville,
MN 55113. |
Sometimes putting
labels on music is a problem for me. It's no big deal calling
something Americana (especially when using Rockzillaworld's super-duper-ultra-inclusive
definition). In order for you to get a feel for a particular
artist and his songs, it's necessary to describe the music, often
by classifying it as a particular genre. But as the labels or
genres become more descriptive, they also become limiting.
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