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Review by Ken Brault of Alicken hue |
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“WIND GONE MAD”
Upon hearing this fresh new comer just confirms my believe that BC music is still a force to be reckoned with! Ric has a way of reflecting the free and independent spirit of the west coast, that indomitable drive that made Canada what it is today! Reminiscent to times of Cat Stevens but with the flavor of a seasoned fisherman of the west coast! Confident of his own work he puts his best composition first on the cd for the listener to encounter and evaluate.
"Gone the
Way" has one of those
hooks that won't let you go!
With his next song “Dark Roads”; we all know every song writer has a song or two written for his dad but here Ric takes it upon himself to write to a cousin battling for his life with cancer, in a hospital. His wife and 2 boys waiting at home. With the beautiful touch of harmonies from a gal who obviously has experienced life in a real way, for how else could she put the same feeling and conviction into the song. “Rocks and Trees” is one of those goodtime songs that only one who has lived on Vancouver Island can cherish and value. With sprinkles of violin to make the listener cogitate is to appreciate this song, be it from the east or west coast? As the songs progress, they come to an apogee with the addition of more minstrels in which Ric the ever adept craftsmen, allows for the selecting a sensorial pennywhistle player of which while subdued yet has a way for making ones heart strings ignite with a calenture divine. Who ever this flute wheeling henchman is I'm sure you’ll be hearing more from her in the future! “Stone Skipping across the Water” is again a song rich in imagery to make a personal relationship poignant and almost too uncomfortably close to the listeners own life. The touch of the Cello and lonely whistle only make for more a introspective inventory of one’s self! “One Wing” and “Sacred Ground” can only convince the Canadian listener that we do have a unique and special national culture separate from the U.S. (despite the fact that Ric co-wrote this song with one of his american neighbors, namely Gretchen Peters (writer of Independance Day by Martina McBride, and Let the Pony Run by Pam Tillis, among others) The traditional feel of “In Your Eyes” gives us a sense of time-honored gambol together with friends! or be they faeries?? With the medeival touch of the cello throughout “Gwendolyn” it can only intensify the mood this love song where the listener would want to sing a song like this to the one of their endearment. When was the last time you heard a song sung about the most beautiful part of a woman's body (her eyes). As far as describing the the complexity and yet the simplicity of a man’s and a woman’s relationship you will find no better an image than ”Isle of View” the struggle of a sailor and the land and his sea. We have one last glimpse into this songwriters life with the very personal reflective song ” theWind Gone Mad”. The title song of the Album comes with a touch of the songwriter’s, autobiography, and the feel of one those apologetic, “if I could do it again “ and “learn from me” songs. and boy haven’t we all been there? Overall the album , has with the underscoring of the instruments, rich artwork of word images that make his songwriting visual as well as an emotional pilgrimage into this songwriters life and hopefully journey into our own! Kenny
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