Darlene Bailey pleases the ear and heart on Wrenches And Rags CD

Darlene Bailey’s recent CD release Wrenches And Rags is a testament to the stories of her extended family. Bailey sings in a warm tone that reveals how she has embraced, with much emotion, her family and her family history.

Wrenches And Rags opens with “Hello, Old Bureau,” a song a little too mellow for an opener, yet one that still stands strong because Bailey’s voice makes itself the pure pristine melodic focal point. The song, about her life long relationship with her old piece of furniture, is vividly rendered and her words too make the song dig deeper into the human experience. It’s not just about the old bureau. It’s about the history of the generations of people who owned that dresser before her.

“Linda’s Angel” features Bailey utilizing her voice in a sing-song pace over a bright tinkling electric piano. The minimal accompaniment is sweet and catchy while Bailey charms with a girlish chirpiness singing her upbeat lyrics. It is these many simple things in her music that Bailey turns into a musical shiny penny, something to behold for its unique charm, regardless of how fleeting.

Bailey’s title track “Wrenches And Rags” celebrates the rugged beauty of Bailey’s parents who forged their own way in the world through hard work and struggle. The song is about a family owned car repair business. The CD’s back cover art shows an old black and white photo of a 1970s model tow truck parked in front of this family owned garage. The song gets its strength from the story itself, including an image of her father’s unclean hands. From there, Bailey just plays and sings it with her steady persistence and the song just moves the listener. Producer Seth Connelly plays the upright bass on this tune, giving Bailey something beautifully foundational to play over.

“Winds Of Change” has Connelly playing a quiet but effective piano line while Bailey puts forth her earnest focus. This one is about her life being in flux for a time period, and she meets the memory with a proud sense of how she got through it. That she turns her reflections into something positive shows she is a songwriter that finds true human value in her experiences. Rugged acoustic guitar lines and a hearty vocal enhance this strength through trial experience, making it a well-rounded listening.

“Song For TJ” finds Bailey’s voice climbing up a scale with a lovely timbre, and the emotional impact pushes its way more firmly into the listener’s consciousness. There is a smoothness in her voice on this one that underlines her warmth for the teenage boy she sings about. She directs her words to the lad with a fair and honest appreciation for where he is at this time in his life, and she never condescends to the youthful perspective.

“Today And For Always” is a quieter, low key number easy on dynamics but heavy with feeling. Bailey artfully manages this balance with tasteful restraint in her vocal approach. She is singing to her life partner, celebrating not just the joy of love but more importantly the backbone that true love uses to hold itself up in good times and bad. Bailey’s unadorned approach, sparse notes, restrained vocal, unveils the heavy seriousness she points to in the song.

“Ricky Rudd My NASCAR Stud” is a fun song, and it has a bit of an edge. Twangy motion in the electric guitar and a sprightly pedal steel melody from Leo Egan give plenty of kick to this upbeat ballad. Bailey speaks like a sports commentator when she describes Rudd’s accomplishments in an admiring manner that suggests she has a crush. It is maturely expressed in this country western flavor song. This is one sure to make you want to sing along and tap your toes, especially as drummer Dan Croad keeps a steady beat under all the twang.

“The Way Life Should Be Booth Harbor, Maine” has a violin melody from Jackie Damsky prettily traipsing its way through this fond recollection of living in a small harbor town in Maine. Bailey infuses her voice with a tone of tenderness as she takes you through her memories. Between the violin and the voice and the tender reminiscences might make you look up this town in a realty guide.

“My Father’s Father’s Father” focuses on the “soul who lived behind those eyes” Bailey has seen in pictures of her great grandfather. A sturdy strum and a steady vocal approach expresses the determined, heroic, willful leadership qualities of her great grandfather, a ship captain. Producer Seth Connelly adds a lovely texture of melody with his accordion that conjures a sense of another time and place. Listen to the accordion notes linger and change, and you’ll think you’ve gone back in time to her great grandfather’s era.

It is with unbridled joy that I point out the sonic qualities of yet another CD produced by Connelly at his Humming Lake Studio in Brookline, New Hampshire. The ubiquitous Connelly name keeps showing up in the credits as producer of many of the CD releases reviewed in this online music magazine. Connelly is so talented that he’s never needed to advertise his studio as he has always done well on word of mouth. And probably tons of favorable CD reviews for the multitude of artists he has produced.

“Meeting Howard” is Bailey’s ode to chance encounters and to people who only come into our lives for a brief time. The background coo Bailey adds to this enhances the forlorn beauty of realizing that a person crossed your path for a purpose greater than you could appreciate at the time.

“Naylee” is about a woman who takes the world to heart and suffers greatly for her sensitivity. Bailey sings with warmth and compassion of this person, pointing her to a better way of dealing with life’s hardships while respecting that there is a reason why she is the way she is. This is also another example of how Bailey can use her background vocals to deepen the emotive contact with her listener. She seems to be singing out Naylee’s pain with this technique and it works wonders toward making you visualize someone who is tortured by this challenging world of ours.

“The Old Songs” close out the CD with more recollections from Bailey’s youth. Her adult perspective on her own childhood experiences bring out a dual meaning in her life story. Harmonica player Buzz Dobbins greases the wheels with a melody texture that warbles beautifully in between the intrepid acoustic guitar and the bulbous bass notes. Dobbins also adds a spoken work accompaniment that thickens the meaning and the old timey feel of the world the songwriter has left behind.

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