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All of twenty years old, San Antonio born and raised Jackson Parten is back in Texas after a college stint in New York City, and he's making waves in the Hill Country with live shows notable for their energy and a self-released CD full of surprisingly good tracks. There's work to be done before the next disc is ready for packaging, but some of what's on display here is easily ready to be ranked with the young guns of Texas music. If your name is Roger Creager, Cory Morrow or Pat Green, you need to be thinking about getting this kid on your bill as an opener. He can learn from you, but there's a thing or two you can pick up from him as well. Jackson Parten kicks off with a beautiful six-string and fiddle duet as intro to "Till I'm OK," one of the album's strongest cuts. Jackson's vocal presence is striking as he breaks into song, all the more surprising because these pipes aren't what you expect to hear coming out of that kid on the front the jewel case. The voice is seasoned and strong, a warm tenor both nuanced and emphatic. And the lyrics? Wise beyond most guitarists not yet old enough to buy a beer: I'm sorry I missed you when I was in town I wish I could help you out Lot of men don't figure out the truth in those lines until the third or fourth divorce, some not even then. Stunning debut song, hands down. It's not all serious, though, as "Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em" rips into honky-tonk territory on a driving bass line and winds up in a jail or two along the way. "Don't Want You" finds Parten's vocals sounding a lot like Jack Ingram, while the kiss-off to a woman gone wrong lyrics show some of the bare-bones venom Charlie Robison's a master at laying down. With backing by Bobby Flores (Ray Price, Doug Sahm, Johnny Bush, Emilio, etc.) on guitar and fiddle, Andy Langham on keyboards and No Deal's Billy Brent Malkus on electric and background vocals, the music itself is on the right track all the way through this disc. Parten himself lays it down on acoustic and 12-string guitar, in addition to harmonica, lap steel and mandolin. Surprising versatility from a youngster, and it's all done well. Best example of just where Jackson can go musically is probably "Mile Out of Memphis," which benefits from a stripped-down production whose rough edges amplify the delta-style blues and jazz overtones of the disc's rockingest cut. That's another compliment to Parten's ability, since he co-produced the disc with Chad Garrett. Obviously his talents behind the board are on par with his skills behind the mic. There are missteps to be found, but not many. There's not a weak track on Jackson Parten; the kid's biggest sin may be that at times he sounds too much like other, better-known artists. That said, make no mistake about this: taken as a whole, this CD serves notice that the new guy has a style of his own and apparently he's got a game plan to make it known. According to the bio on www.jacksonparten.com, your hero spent a considerable portion of his college years in New York City out on the streets playing his guitar for pocket change and talking to the homeless and downtrodden. Those experiences tempered his style, obviously, because this is not your typical beer/beer/Luckenbach/Texas attempt at a fast roadhouse buck. Rather, as the lyric below from the final track, "Standing in the Sun," illustrates, Jackson Parten is already, in many respects, miles ahead of current frat boy faves like Green and Morrow. If he stays the course for the long haul, this might be the guy our kids talk about from back in the good old days when music was worth a damn. Finding meaning in a lost year Contact David Pilot at: tailgunner-at-rockzilla.net |
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Look up "out
of left field," "blindsided," or "dark horse"
in your favorite dictionary of the unexpected, and you're bound
to see a picture of a clean-shaven pubescent-looking kid named
Jackson Parten. In his slacker pants, black tee and denim jacket,
Parten looks like another jobless wanderer careening into manhood
half-assed and unaware. The songs on his self-titled debut CD,
though, indicate that the man behind the look is far more than
he seems at a glance.
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