Run Skeleton Run, David Childers’ sixth solo album (Ramseur Records, March 5th), starts off with the title track, a raucous warning to a discontented skeleton that refuses to rest in peace, and it ends with “Goodbye to Growing Old,” a declaration of his acceptance of the passage of years. In between, Childers sings about the lure of Communism in his youth and about a flood that took down a train. He tells stories: an American sailor cutting loose on leave, a snowy hunting trip with a dog, a hermit who died on the beach. He uses the characters to explore the demons humans all wrestle with–lust, dishonesty, fear and loneliness. The album travels on a wide, rambling road through the Americana landscape, bringing in rockabilly and country influences, a folk sensibility, and some Cajun-spiced fiddle along the way.
You don’t have to know anything about David Childers to appreciate this album, with its addictive collection of evocative vignettes, but I’m going to tell you some things anyway. Read More >