Dave Insley - Here With You Tonight

I'll get the bad news out of the way first. As a longtime Dave Insley fan, I was both euphoric about this new release and then a little disappointed. Why? It's certainly not because of the quality of the disc. Can't complain about that. What am I complaining about? Well, it's very short. Only ten songs; nine originals, and of those originals, three have been released before, when Insley was working with other groups rather than solo - "Borrowed Time" and "Cashed In My Old Life" were recorded with The Nitpickers on their self-titled disc, and "Grace" was released by Trophy Husbands on their second album, Walk With Evil. Because I'm a fan, I of course have those releases. But on the good hand, the new recordings are even better than the old ones, especially in the case of "Cashed In My Old Life," which has gone from the bluegrass stomper it was to a laid-back two-steppin' honky-tonk number. My only other beef? Harder to explain - if you've seen any of Insley's live shows, there are a lot of great songs in his repertoire that still haven't made it to the studio that I was hoping to hear here. Since many listeners won't have that little disadvantage, I can't really say it's a bad thing. Gives me something to look forward to.

So now to the good stuff about this disc, and there's a lot of that. In addition to Dave's own incredible voice (did I mention I could listen to him sing anything? I'm serious - and on a personal note, thanks for wearing the sideburns for the photo shoot, Dave), he's got a couple of duets here, the old Western "South of the Border" with Rosie Flores (who appeared on his first disc), and his original "You're The One That I Prefer" with Amanda Cunningham, and it also features the California guitarist Dave Gleason, along with Rick Shea and PH Naffah, as well as a batch of top-notch backing musicians, including former Nitpicker Steve Borick and one of Dave's own touring band the Careless Smokers, Mickey Ferrell. You put a bunch of talented guys and gals on songs like Dave's and it just can't fail. Dave's lyrics are always rich and compelling, powered by with strong melodies, such as the closing track that gives the disc its title, "And you quiver and sigh/ And sometimes softly cry/ When all the things you've been through/ Have got the better of you/ But you can hold back your tears/ Let that old train roll on by/ You don't have to worry/ ‘Cause I'm here with you tonight."

As always, there's a knowledge of the shortness, as well as the richness, of mortal life in Insley's music, the awareness of death around the corner, but there's the spiritual, as well; loss of the mortal flesh is rewarded by a "simple act of Grace." Insley reminds us that "God loves the working man," and while the flesh ends, the spirit goes on forever. Woven together, the songs tell their story - love, loss, death; but always the possibility of rebirth. The album is rich with hope, an anxious yearning - it bumps up with "You're the One That I Prefer" and jars down with "Borrowed Time," almost to disaster with "Cashed In My Old Life" - "I thought the last tears that I'd cry for you had already been shed/ I claimed a million times ‘it's over' and a thousand times we'd wed/ Now I'm lonesome on the highway, there's no one to take me in/ Nobody knows where I'm going, not my ex-lovers or my next of kin." But the lows aren't permanent; you're lifted to heaven in "Grace," and close with the beauty of "Train in the Distance," and the listener is left with that wonderful hope. It's a delicious album, well worth the wait. Now I can't wait for the next one.