Americana Music Reviews

Stewboss
Sweet Lullabye
Stewsongs Records
by Samuel L. Wereb

"Just rock, baby!" So Al Davis might say if he managed a band. Sometimes it really is that simple. Like winning in football, just rocking can solve many a band's problems.

Just rock. Stewboss does on Sweet Lullabye, and it is a tour-de-force performance. Sweet Lullabye is an almost perfect roots-rock album. It made me laugh, dance, sing along and sit down to pore over the song lyrics and liner notes like I haven't done since I was a kid. Everything is done right on this disc and it simply rocks.

Simply. That's how they pulled it off. Eleven simple, eloquent, and dignified songs are put together with a simple production style, honesty, and a sense of humor. The songs soar out of my machine and command attention. I can't play this music while I work; it won't be relegated to background music. It's alive, vibrant and genuine. Sweet Lullabye is a masterpiece.

Stewboss has had a lot of problems, no major label backing, distributorship, or airplay being chief among them. The band is Luke Storey on bass and Jano Jonosik on drums, with Gregg Sarfaty as vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter. Sarfaty spent the bulk of the '90s locked into a couple of bad publishing deals and a stint playing guitar for another band, which was lost in the bowels of Elektra records. This is his second album as Stewboss, this time with a permanent lineup of like-minded musicians who are playing music their way, for once. They get it done with dignified, melodic songwriting, driving rhythms, and authentic production. It should solve all their problems.

Few self-professed singer-songwriters have any dignity at all, and they can get downright loathsome at times. They pull those preposterous "I'm just doing this Chris Gaines persona for me" moves when they've sold a hundred million "units." (Yeah, that's what he calls his records.) They can also make complete jackasses of themselves, a la The Artist Now Known As Ryan "Don't Ever Call Me Bryan" Adams. (Would someone please kick The Artist's ass? Not likely, I'm afraid. He's touring Europe.)

Rock is supposed to be fun, but the best of it has some dignity and heart. Sarfaty writes, and Stewboss plays with a sense of humor and dignity. I mean that in the classic sense: with a certain detachment and proper distance from the subject material, so that listeners, (remember them, Ryan?) can enjoy it. Perspective and melody are the most important elements of songwriting in my mind. Telling a story well is the clincher. Great storytelling and songwriting is done with a sense of humor, dignity and perspective. The music must always come before the persona bologna. It can be fun and it can be dignified, but it should always be musically genuine.

No one cares if you hate being famous and want to be a painter. Just rock.

Sweet Lullabye is to be played loud. Stick it in your car and go for a drive. Just drive anywhere. This is top-down, convertible driving music.

There is a monster groovezilla running wild in this album, even through the ballads. Play this record for your friends. By the end of the second tune you'll find yourself at a party. Just remember that you read it here, first: "I Hope You Miss Me," is a hit song. I'll be damned if I know why no one else has figured it out, yet.

Here's a little bit of it. See if you agree about simplicity, perspective, dignity and humor. (The liner notes for this song read, "What we really mean when we wish them all the best.")

Well you told me your sad story, put my suitcase in my hand,
Funny how sometimes things just don't go as planned
And I bet you may be wondering if I'm sorry, well I'm not,
You haven't even crossed my mind since I kicked this spot
And I'm sure you heard the stories, they say I'm drinkin' in the street,
Say I'm bitter and I'm cursin oh but, babe, that ain't me

'Cause I hope that you find happiness, hope you fall in love,
Hope that you get everything your head's been thinkin' of
And when it all works out for you and all your dreams come true
Well there's just one little thing, honey, I really hope for you,

I hope you miss me

I laughed, knowing how fresh and dead-on that song is. This is what I am driving at with all this talk of perspective and a sense of humor. That could easily have gone down the worn out path of broken hearts and empty bottle songs, but these guys are too smart for that. They also put some genuinely thoughtful, deeply heartfelt songs on this record and it is astonishing how well they come off. They're not tearjerkers, but they leave you with the same sense of wonderment and a smile that "I Hope You Miss Me" does, and you want more right away.

Gregg Sarfaty says he learned good songwriting the hard way, during his doomed crash course in the mainstream music "business." "It has to be about the music first," he says. "You can easily get all 'singer-songwriter' and blow it. There's a lot of that in the music 'biz, and it ruins it." Indeed.

What's a Stewboss?

"Basically, it's a shady occupation. You know how a pitboss makes sure everything stays on the up and up at a casino? A Stewboss makes sure everything is on the up and up at a brothel. It's sort of a ludicrous job, nothing is supposed to be on the up and up, right? It's kind of come to signify someone who brings integrity to a place where there really isn't any call for it at all. Kind of like a grassroots band in today's music industry."

I get it. But then, I've heard this record.

Sarfaty cites Bruce Springsteen as one of his songwriting influences. Sweet Lullabye is absolutely stuffed with the kind of heart and dignity that Springsteen hasn't shown since Tunnel Of Love. Springsteen, God bless him, is still trying to nail down that street poet act but all he's managed to do is smash the hell out of his thumb. I give you Stewboss' "The Midnight Shift," which will trump any working-class hero song The Boss has attempted since 1987.

Stewboss is not just Gregg Sarfaty and two hacks. The three band mates compliment each other in style, musicianship, and focus. Producer Chris Garcia has mixed a brilliant record, and there is a little bit of everything here. I can't think of another new record so fresh and complete. Every song is unique and right on the money. There's a genuine sweet lullabye in the title song, a nice bluegrass tune called "O Carry Me," and two utterly brilliant performances in "The Moonlight And Me," and "If You Were Mine." They even have a roots-rocker called, "Let's Go To Texas."

There's an idea. I am astonished to find that Stewboss has played with considerable success in Europe three times, and just returned to L.A. at the beginning of October. I asked Sarfaty where they'd play next. They'll be at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas, on Friday November 29th. Then, he guessed, they'd "just play around Los Angeles."

This is ridiculous. Go, right now, over to www.stewboss.com and buy a copy of Sweet Lullabye. If you do, they'll know you're out there and maybe they will go to Texas. This music is way too good for Europeans and Los Angelinos only. That is tantamount to casting pearls before swine.

 
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