Rating: ***1/2
I've talked about Geoff Gibbons before on Now Hear This. He had an album called "Buffalo Hotel" that we reviewed here last year. I dug it, so I was excited to see that I had a new single to review.
It's called "Rollin' Free" and it promises all the earnest lyrics and modern folk that we are accustomed to by Mr. Gibbons.
Let's give it a test drive here.
Watch the lyric video for "Rollin' Free" on Youtube here:
The intro is such a Geoff Gibbons staple. It just sounds like one of his songs. Gibbons has a pleasant folk voice and musically this is right on brand for him. It harkens back to the golden-era of singer-songwriters channeling Jim Crose, Gram Parsons, and Randy Newman all at once. The song itself is really good but it's not adventurous for him. He's sticking to what he's good at. There's definitely something to be said for that.
Gibbons can come off as a bit of a one-trick pony at times. But the fact is this: Dude can really write a song. He can really sing it. And he plays it well. At the end of the day, that's so much more than what's being offered in this genre at the moment. I have a feeling, if you're a modern folkster, you're gonna dig this.