I’m not a music reviewer, but I get to play one on my blog.

I acquired an CD earlier this week in a most unusual way. It wasn’t purchased in a store or pirated off the Internet. When a colleague of mine stopped by the school last week, I asked how his kid’s music album was coming along. The $20 I handed him let him know I was making more than small talk. “This is for when they come in, save one for me.”  He handed me back a five and left. If new tunes arrived by summer I’d been content. Monday morning the CD was in my mailbox, delivery person unknown.

Good Morning, Jo is the second album Scott Kirby has put out there for us to hear. It is a gift (more on that later). In short, it is pleasing to my ear and took my heart and mind on a bit of a journey, too. Eleven original tracks showcase his sound guitar, harmonica and voice. He fittingly gives props to the cast that joins him. All their talents are showcased well.

iTunes software labels the music as “folk.”  No argument here, but this doesn’t fully convey the range of genre/tempos that emerge throughout the album.  The title track is book-ended with a tease that has you wanting to hear them go on in jam band fashion for 15 minutes.

The bluesy harmonics in many of the tracks had me wondering if this is what John Popper sounded like in the early '80s. Between some traditional folk rock sounds, emerged a pattern that I can only describe as alternative rock meets bluegrass. It was as if O.A.R. is playing the Grand Ole Opry.

Far from being an album suffering a genre identity crisis though, a distinct thread carries you from start to finish. I don’t know enough about music to pinpoint that thread (remember, I’m not a music critic).  I do know that if you’re on a long road trip, the grooves in these tracks could carry you an hour without glancing at the odometer.  

Listening to “Rising with you” and “Resolution” you hear an artist that is not afraid to put his own voice at center stage. It works. Confident vulnerability in that voice grows into assertive, vocal release in the chorus of “Sailor Song,” again providing a bit of a tease. Is more to be belted out? Perhaps “a little further down the line” to borrow a line from Scott’s own lyrics. The ballad “Lamb” concludes the album fittingly with his voice leading the way, sharing what I can only hear as simultaneous heartache and healing.

His poetry gives us a glimpse of some travels, ones he is keenly aware are perhaps just beginning.  It is as if he is saying he knows enough to know there is more he doesn’t know. Still, there is wisdom and self-reflection in them. “Some things in life you don’t try, you just do.”  I’d bet he’ll travel some more highways.

A refreshing evangelical voice is heard in “Jesus Song.” It is not the sort we’ve heard far too much of in recent times—that arrogant view that condemns all non-conformists to a lake of hell fire. His voice is one of straightforward criticizing or questioning of a collective self-centeredness that neglects the Gospels (you know, the important part in the second half of the good book).

And he’s not over the top about it either. It is critical, yet optimistic. You might call it the Christian left or Christian middle? Further, the beat alone on this track will likely have you banging those air drums.

So why a music review in A Sense of Place? Scott is a 2003 RHS grad. He was never in a class I taught. I recall a handful of brief hallway conversations with him, probably about politics, my coaching maybe, or his music.

His bass player, Charlie Strong, is also an RHS grad. Charlie was in a club called Hodag Adventurers that I co-advised for a few years. I’d take kids hiking, canoeing, camping and such. Charlie went on a trip where he ended up with a flat tire at the camp site and went on a hike where I found it fun to take the kids bushwhacking (hiking off trail). He quit shortly after that and focused on the bass. Good thing I suppose.

Both these guys are examples of important gift givers. Their work here reminds me of a lesson I’ve heard over the years from Native American elders and free market economists. The teaching states that as individuals, we need to find something that we do really well. The sooner and better we do that the greater our contributions to our community and the better off all the people are. That is our gift.

I think Scott is on to his something. So are many others in this community…with gifts in areas like finance, business, education, journalism, natural resource protection and much more. Picking up this CD reminded me of them.  

Check Scott out yourself at www.scottkirbymusic.com