Tricknology

Honesty is something I have always looked for in music, and for that reason I have never been a huge fan of the contemporary singer-songwriter. Nothing pains me more than shelling out 10 bucks to be confronted with a set or CD of self-loathing whinery from a person with no real problems to speak of. The majority of today’s faux troubadors have not suffered gross injustices, worked in the fields, or hopped a train in search of an unknown future in a distant land. In fact, the majority of today’s coffee house howlers seem to be reporting the news from Planet Dull. I recently heard a guy sing a song about his honeymoon, and he spent 5 mintues setting it up with a really meaningful story. I shit you not.

I instantly believed William Elliot Whitmore the first time I saw him. I was patiently for the headliner when a dude with my hat and beard got on stage with a banjo. All night people were telling me that my set was great, and after a while I just said thanks because I got sick of explaining that it really was not me who was just on stage. But the guy they thought they were talking to actually was really great.

His record label bio says he’s orphaned and lives with his uncle on a farm in Iowa. His songs tell the story from a place called Lee County, where the flood water sometimes runs so high, it washes the cows over the fences. His stories remain personal while not seeming self-absorbed, and when he projects himself he does so with ambivalence. It’s as if he’s so careful not to exploit his subject that he deliberately understates the events, and he trusts his audience enough to assume that they will imagine the rest of the story themselves. The result is musical soul poetry that allows for interpretation, while seemingly remaining true to the inspirational events or characters that lived them.

Aside from Mother Nature, Will roughs up the usual suspects: love, famliy, rip offs, and booze. His deep throaty voice communicates a vibe that’s relaxed like the front porch, yet powerful like the riots in Birmingham. He’s released three full length records on Southern, and an amazing duet mini-record with Jenny Hoyston from Erase Errata.

Bring William to your next Sunday morning and you will not be disappointed.

Go to William’s website

Go to the Southern Records site