A PURDY DAMN GOOD THING
With the goal of visiting all of our National Parks, I’ve spent much of my life hitting the back roads of America. It’s a stunning feeling spending so much time alone, away from the conveniences of modern life. There is always a bittersweet experience when seeing the awesome vistas of our country. I’ve wanted to share the experience with friends, most of whom were too used to comfort to join me. The uncanny feeling of being so tiny in such an indescribably huge universe. I’d sit by the fire every night of my journeys, and contemplate, contemplate, contemplate. Now, an album has arrived from Joe Purdy that brings back the spirit of those meditative days (when you’ve been to 318 National Park units, and so much more in-between, there’s plenty of time for pensiveness). With gentle cowboy waltzes and some sad little howls at the companionship of the moon, Coyote immediately centered me. It’s hardly depressing. More plaintive in nature. With just a guitar and some occasional background harmonies as his friends, Purdy offers his songs such as “Heartbreak in the Key of Roger Miller” and “Ramblin’ Boy.” Is the world too fast-paced for you? Let Coyote get you centered.
Oddly, Purdy’s liner notes are a bit self-deprecating: “I not only wrote but also recorded this record at a particularly dark time, by myself in the middle of the desert. I think you can hear the way I felt in the recordings themselves. Low energy even for me. I’m not actually sure that’s a good thing. Maybe it’s cool. Maybe it’s really not. It is what it is.” Well, Mr. Purdy, it is a very good thing, as you certainly captured that moment of inarticulate reflection which we all have felt at one time or another, whether in the desert or not.
Coyote
Joe Purdy
9 tracks | 30:11 | March 4, 2022
available at all digital service providers here
www.joepurdy.com
Ramblin’ Boy 03:39
Heartbreak in the Key of Roger Miller 03:25
My Loving Arms 04:32
Spiderbite 01:54
Girl Like You 02:54
Where You Goin’ 02:08
I Will Let You Go 02:19
Gone Gone Gone 03:51
Glasgow 05:30
