Verlon Thompson - "Everywhere...Yet" (VNS Records,
2004)
Verlon Thompson is a guitar player. One hell of a guitar
player. He and his pal, Guy Clark, travel 'round the world
playing their brand of warm country music to fans hither,
thither and, well, maybe not yon. They've been all through
Texas, around the USA, they played the 2nd Annual Canadian
Songwriters' Festival in Guelph, but they haven't been everywhere
. . . yet. Get it? This little album, only 37 minutes long,
is an example of real home-made music. All instruments and
vocals by Verlon Thompson. I can hear bass, mandolin and
guitars. It's marvelous in its simplicity. Recorded "out
at the barn" in a studio he built for his last album,
the sound is as cozy as an indian blanket in front of a
log fire. The title song is a list of the places they HAVE
played, with a chorus that promises if you "book us
a room, we'll be in your town soon. . . we ain't been everywhere
but we're tryin' to get there." If you haven't seen
these guys, do so at your earliest possible convenience.
There's some nifty wordplay on the next tune, "I Was
a Square . . . when you were around . . . " It's cute,
good for a laugh, and yet has a deeper side, too. Thompson
describes it in the brief liner notes as " . . . a
play on words turned out to be a sincere look back at missed
opportunity." He reprises a couple of songs from Clark's
most recent albums, putting his own spin on them, and yet,
coming from essentially the same space, they display a similar
approach. Townes Van Zandt's "Rex's Blues" is
dedicated to Thompson's brother Rex. It features slide guitar
and mandolin. "Bunkhouse Blues" was on Clark's
Cold Dog Soup, but I'd say Thompson's yodel outdoes
Clark's. "He Left The Road" starts with the riff
from CCR's "Proud Mary" and proceeds to tell the
story of a trucker who was killed on the road, listening
to the radio. It's touching and sad. "Give Me A Ride
to Heaven Boy" is another highway song, wherein the
driver picks up a hitchhiker who calls himself Jesus Christ.
You figure it out. Terry Allen wrote this one, and except
for the Van Zandt tune, all the others are written or co-written
by Thompson. He's a creative tunesmith, who is featured
during Clark's shows. "A Whisper and a Scream"
is a live track from the Suwannee Springfest in Florida.
You can hear the rest of the festival in the background.
It's a bit echoey, but sung a capella it showcases Thompson's
strong true tenor. "I Will Come Back Again" is
a haunting reincarnation ballad, nicely fingerpicked. This
is mellow, acoustic stuff, well crafted songs, beautifully
and subtly played and sung. It's almost as though Thompson
was singing for you in your living room. And he is one fine
guitar player!
- David Kidney, "Green Man Review"
greenmanreview.com
"It's
high time everyone heard more of that humble troubadour
Verlon Thompson. He is an outstanding guitar picker and
songwriter whose only career shortcoming is that he performs
in Guy Clarks enormous shadow..."
- The Lonely Goat Magazine
THIRSTY EAR
A Non Tuxedo Music & Culture Joint
Verlon Thompson is best known as Guy Clark’s second
guitarist, but he’s cut three albums on his own VNS
Records. OUT AT THE BARN is Thompson’s latest celebration
of simple, down-home music recorded, as the title suggests,
at his refurbished barn in the countryside near Nashville.
Highlights include the old folk song "Cindy",
with vocal and guitar contributions by Clark; "Beside
Myself", a catchy number that kicks off the disc; and
"Satisfied Mind", a beautiful take on that old
tune about how money can’t buy inner peace, with impressive
and heartfelt harmonizing by Darrell Scott, Suzi Ragsdale,
and Thompson.
If you dig Thompson’s work with Clark, this disc should
grace your collection as well.
GET RHYTHM
Affable
Verlon Thompson, a man whose craftsmanship as a guitarist
and harmony vocalist can be heard on some of the finest
recordings made in the last 15 years, is currently touring
(this summer alone has seen them play 30 American states
and five foreign countries) with his old friend Guy Clark—between
writing songs and supporting his own album "OUT AT
THE BARN".
Thompson, during the 80’s alone, had songs cut by everyone
from Suzy Bogguss, Randy Travis, Shelly West and the McCarter
Sisters –and there are lots more. Verlon was gaining
more covers than there are raindrops in a thunderstorm.
While his playing and voice were to be heard on albums from
Restless Heart, (whom he almost joined, prior to them becoming
known as such) to Suzy, Guy, Darrell Scott and Suzi Ragsdale,
many others, have enjoyed the subtle dexterity of Verlon’s
assists.
In regards to songs, Trisha Yearwood (a co-write with Beth
Nielson Chapman) Pam Tillis, Joe Diffie, and Anne Murray
and Sam Bush have recorded Thompson’s songs. Sam Bush
recorded "Ol’ Joe Clark’, ( recorded by Verlon’s
co-writer Darrell Scott as ‘Banjo Clark’) and
has all but made it his signature song. - Maurice Hope
COUNTRY MUSIC ROUND UP / UK
Verlon Thompson/OUT AT THE BARN
What
an album…and unlike the Tommy Collins tune ‘Out
Behind The Barn’, all the fun goes on inside the barn.
Verlon Thompson, a singer/songwriter and picker/harmony
singer (see Guy Clarks albums of the past 12 years) who
on plying his work with occasional humorous line and welding
music organically in the company of friends, Clark, Darrell
Scott, Suzi Ragsdale, Andrea Zonn, Larry Marrs and Jellyroll
Johnson, is exceptional. (Out At The Barn) is put together
with exquisite taste, its multi-textures taking the listener
on a musical journey they are unlikely to sample this side
of heaven.
Fiddle, harp, slick guitar and enough variation in vocal
entries to make Heinz change its label logo. Sliding into
place with minimal effort, his unhurried style (and attitude
to music/life) ensures the listener is ever at ease –
the barn lending itself superbly to music and giving off
a warm family gathering ambiance. Ragsdale, Thompson’s
former wife, sings the hell out of ‘Satisfied Mind’
(aided by Scott and Thompson) – where she plays accordion,
and delivers a striking Bonnie Raitt-esque working of John
Prine’s ‘Angel From Montgomery’ and lends
delightful close harmonies on almost every track featured.
Everyone puts their heart and soul into the project, and
it’s one I’m enjoying the more I hear it. Formats
and running orders go out the window long before the first
act pulled into Verlon’s driveway. And, what a killer
take Guy does on ‘Cindy’ (percussion, upright
bass, mandolin and guitar cooking up a storm). ‘Lucky
Dog’, a Mexican styled ‘Manana’, treasured
melody/story song ‘Lonesome Dove’, and with a
sense of the road, ‘Asheville Turnaround’ find
Verlon and the crew striking and ideal balance between having
fun and accomplished playing. ****1/2
