Published on Mar 30, 2001
Tom Hambridge is a songwriter whose style feels like someone you
know, but is a person whose name you wouldn’t recognize.
That is, you wouldn’t recognize him if you weren’t familiar with
the late Roy Buchannan, with whom Hambridge worked up until
Buchannan’s tragic death. You wouldn’t recognize him if you hadn’t
discovered Susan Tedeschi and her CD
Just Won’t Burn. Hambridge, in fact, is the gem waiting to
be discovered. With his major label solo debut (and second solo
effort overall)
Balderdash, the waiting may soon be over for Hambridge.
Although the music on this CD is bluesy, it would be incorrect
to call the CD a blues disc, or to call Hambridge a blues musician.
The term “roots rock” seems to fit better, even if the semantics of
the genre are still debated. The fact is, the drummer/vocalist
takes all of the musical influences he’s been exposed to over the
years and rolls them up into one neat little package.
The end result, admittedly, does take a little time to get used
to. Tracks like “Gillian” and “Strong Enough” are decent, but they
don’t seem like they can go the extra mile to bring the listener
into Hambridge’s camp. “Opposites Attract,” the first of two duets
with Tedeschi, fizzles, most likely because the same concept was
done over a decade ago by Paula Abdul. If you remember Abdul’s
brief career in the spotlight, don’t be surprised if you listen to
Hambridge’s composition and find yourself wondering if the two
tracks are the same. (Save yourself the time; they aren’t.)
Despite the slow start to
Balderdash, Hambridge quickly redeems himself, and spends
the rest of the CD erasing any doubts the listener may have had.
“Boneyard” is a bluesy rocker that has just the right mixture of
city grit and southern twang to make it a possible hit. Other
tracks, such as “Gas,” “Rachel Fay,” “Big & Empty” and
“Highway” shine in a similar light, proving to the listener that
Hambridge is one of the best-kept secrets from the Boston area.
Hambridge even pays tribute to the often-assumed-to-be-dead form of
music media known as the record, with the song “12 Inches”.
Although it takes time for Hambridge to get the motor warmed up
on
Balderdash, there’s more than ample proof here to suggest
that he could be the next force in album-oriented rock… and
there’s plenty to make me think that we still haven’t heard the
best that Hambridge can offer. Although he’s a veteran of the music
scene,
Balderdash is an impressive big-league welcome for
Hambridge, and will undoubtedly be just the first thing we hear
from him over the next few years… which is absolutely fine.