Source: Indie-Music.com – Magazine – June 3, 2006
Artist: Big Rain
CD: Self-Titled
Home: Santa Cruz, California
Style: Country Rock
Quote: "This is the kind of cleansing, welcoming music that makes listeners say, 'Oh, yeah! That stuff! I didn't realize how much I needed a big dose of that.'"
By Barney Quick
Regional musical traditions are the threads that comprise the fabric of American music. We can appreciate their distinct contributions but also make them our own as listeners, wherever we might live. Such is the case with the sun-drenched sound emanating from California for the last four decades. It takes you to the balmy Pacific coast whenever you hear it, but it also belongs to you even if you live in some chilly locale far removed from it.
A component of the California sound going clear back to the neo-bluegrass bands of the very early 60s is that high-register set of stringed instruments and vocal harmonies that has been given new life with each generation. Big Rain is making it fresh and bright once again.
California music’s country aspect works best if it serves a basically optimistic, warm, human view of life, and Big Rain delivers that generously. Lyrical themes of family, friendship, integrity, and a desire to see an end-product of life beyond material gain infuse the songs on their latest, self-titled album on the Oak label.
The purely aural impact of this record may be a more prominent factor, however. It’s just a delight to run by your ears, with its classic airy sweetness. It sounds like it’s wafting up from some canyon.
Bassist and lead vocalist Bruce Guynn writes most of the tunes. His affable voice is utterly devoid of affectation, like a neighbor hollering over the fence inviting you to join him on the porch for something cold to drink. His songwriting tends toward interesting combinations of diatonic chords, so that his creations are quite accessible but never formulaic.
Guynn and guitarist Peter Alaimo have obviously been working out their vocal harmonies for some time. They have a flair for just where to place them, with just the right dynamics. They weave seamlessly between thirds and fifths over the refrains and other key areas of the songs.
The band members have a keen sense of what kinds of auxiliary players to bring in and how to layer their contributions onto Big Rain’s own tracks. Doug Livingston on steel guitar, Bobby Furgo on fiddle and mandolinist Richie Polodor are an integral part of the classic California country-rock atmosphere that characterizes the Big Rain sound. Engineer Bill Cooper has given the whole thing just enough canyon echo to conjure up big-winged birds soaring the endless summer sky. (By now you’re thinking, “Richie Polodor and Bill Cooper; where have I heard those names before?” Get out your late-60s Dunhill-label records by Steppenwolf and Three Dog Night and check out the engineering credits. That’s right.)
The album leads with arguably the most vibrant cut, “Sweet Inspiration,” on which all these elements come together with superb sparkle. James Chatterton’s timeless piano fills are of the kind that rock and roll has always featured. The Everly Brothers would be proud of this update of their sound.
“I’m Not Running” is an example of the above-mentioned refreshing chord changes, in this case I-V-II-IV, dreamily delivered by Livingston’s pedal-steel eloquence. Chet McCracken provides a solid backbeat that accentuates the song’s positive theme.
“Valley of Towers” is a smartly metaphorical look at those pockets of the modern world where commerce has crowded out the things in life of lasting value. Guynn’s lyrics effectively convey the price to be paid for pursuing mammon at the expense of human connection.
The James Chatterton composition “Las Vegas” is another fine example of Big Rain instrumentation, including the session players, painting a sound canvas that is pure, timeless California rock. The lyrics tell a sweet tale of a couple driving across the country and going through the changes that make it possible for them to find commitment by the time they reach their destination (“We argued through Oklahoma, silent through San Miguel, relations thawed in the Painted Desert, three hundred miles to go”).
Another great feature of the Big Rain sound is Peter Alaimo’s guitar breaks in most of the songs. He has a real sense for the kind of tone setting that will effectively get across a particular number’s mood.
Big Rain is seeing some chart success in various quarters of the music world. It’s no wonder. This is the kind of cleansing, welcoming music that makes listeners say, “Oh, yeah! That stuff! I didn’t realize how much I needed a big dose of that.”
