Published on Mar 26, 2000
Full disclosure: Not only do I know Dave Uhrich personally, but
I took guitar lessons from him back in the ’80s.
As I’ve mentioned in my review of
Change, I used to watch Dave before our lessons began as
he’d show me some of the things he was working on. My jaw would
literally be scraping the floor of the cramped practice room as he
did tricks that I can still only dream about reproducing. When he
gave me a copy of his demo tape, it was like receiving the Holy
Grail in my hands.
In 1992, Uhrich got his big break and was signed to a record
contract. Yet no matter how many times I’ve listened to
Dave Uhrich over the years, I’ve always found myself a bit
disappointed at the album.
I still think part of it is that I’m biased in favor of the demo
tape. “Fury,” “Quarter To Three” and “Paradise Island” all appear
on that tape, and the new studio versions always seemed to lose
something in the translation for me. Oh, don’t get me wrong, these
versions still show that Uhrich had the power to be the next guitar
god a la Joe Satriani or Steve Vai.
But the more I’ve listened to
Dave Uhrich in the last year, the more I’m convinced the
problem really is with violinist Jerry Goodman, who guests on
several of the songs. Often, on numbers like “Blue Rose” and
“Majestic Solitude,” the focus shifts from Uhrich – who’s supposed
to be the star of the show – to Goodman. I highly doubt this was
intentional, but when I start hearing more of the electric and
acoustic violin work than Uhrich’s guitar flash, I know things are
in trouble.
Problem number two is the inclusion of Chicago broadcaster Kevin
Matthews in the guise of two of his characters. His short
appearance as Jim Shorts on the opening of “Fury” isn’t too bad,
but the intro was hardly necessary. But Matthews’s appearance as
Devon on “Take It Home Boy” – already a song suffering from poor
songwriting and uninspired playing – lowers the song to new
levels.
This all makes it sound like
Dave Uhrich isn’t worth checking out. This is hardly the
case. Tracks like “City Heat,” “Fury” and “Paradise Island” all
demonstrate the absolute mastery that Uhrich has over the
six-string, making it produce sounds you probably thought weren’t
possible from a guitar. The guitar-only work “Kristin” demonstrates
that Uhrich knows how to turn down the intensity without losing the
power of the performance. Likewise, “Rondo In D” allows Uhrich to
explore the acoustic guitar – one thing I’d really like to see him
do more of.
In a way, it almost feels like Uhrich is trying too hard to
prove himself at times. When all is said and done, he’s a damned
fine rock guitarist – and that’s nothing to be ashamed about.
There’s also no problem exploring softer sides and acoustic sides
of your playing. But to try and expand into the worlds of funk
(“Take It Home Boy”) and country (“Down Home” – admittedly just a
song that Uhrich wanted to have some fun with), methinks that he’s
trying to take too large a bite of the musical pie.
Dave Uhrich is not the easiest album to find anymore (Red
Light closed its doors a few years ago), but if you stumble across
a copy, it’s still well worth your time to check out. Just make
sure to step carefully on some areas.