Jeff Graham - "Big Bright Day" (Boys of Summer Music)

Album review by Danny Alexander

Jeff Graham is from Joplin, Missouri, but he did his time playing music in Kansas City about a decade ago. Then, sometime in the mid-90s, he went to Nashville and started recording some of what’s here. But it was Kansas City’s Steve Phillips (The Rainmakers) who took his tapes and mixed them, along with new material. Now, closer to home in Oklahoma, he has done something remarkable; he has made an album part Nashville, part KC and recorded with a little help from his legendary homeboy (Springfield and Joplin are cultural neighbors after all) Lou Whitney, all of it adding up to something deeply personal and universal. Big Bright Day is a richly cross-fertilized album that speaks to anyone carrying rock dreams in their head and trying to slug it out day-to-day in what sometimes feels like an all-but-forgotten heartland.

In one of Bruce Springsteen’s greatest songs ever, “Badlands,” he urges listeners to “throw away the dreams that tear you apart.” Big Bright Day starts there, insisting, “It is not defeat to trade in old dreams for some new ones.” This is a consistent theme that Graham not only applies to the search for stardom, stepping on other people’s toes in “15 Minutes,” but it is also a theme that he exorcises with the dead-end frustration of “Cadillac Twist” and the impossible romance of “Mystery Girl.”

The new dreams he is searching for are simpler and sturdier. In “Money Just Can’t Buy,” he recognizes intimacy, support and social responsibility as far more rewarding than any quick fix sales pitch. And the new dreams come with the recognition of what is all around him, the feelings expressed in “Blue Skies All Around” and the promise of “Big Bright Day.” This is not an album about settling; it’s about gaining perspective, struggling less and aiming higher, and, as in the wartime saga, “Dunkirk,” appreciating the luck that’s come your way.

But such themes would only work so well if they succeeded musically, and they do. Graham’s plainspoken vocals testify to the heartfelt honesty and wisdom of the lyrics. The accompaniment is generally simple--a dash of psychedelic guitar here, a dobro there--but the arrangements carry a warmth that supports the songs without getting in their way. This is an album you’ll want to play repeatedly, and benefit for doing so. (jvgraham@flash.net or write 1310 S. Indian, Tulsa OK 74127)

--Danny Alexander