Brian Price
Tired of Singing in My Car
(self-released)
Brian Price is a late bloomer. From his photos, he appears to be in his early 40s, but according to Price, he never wrote a song until a couple of years ago, and limited himself to singing in his car on the way to work at a local radio station (hence, the name of the CD). He originally intended this recording to go only to his friends and family, but the results were so impressive, they merited a wider audience.
And it's no wonder the record turned out so well. Production-wise, Price enlisted a dream team of local studio sessioneers to fill out his lush, working-class pop songs, including scene stalwart Rick Witkowski (of B.E. Taylor and Crack the Sky), guitar wizard Rick Mals, songcrafter Anthony Rankin and drummer Mark Rajakovic (of Brownie Mary and The Yards).
Strangely enough, Price's booming, expressive vocals at times remind me of ex-Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm, as much as any number of roots-rockers such as John Hiatt. And a good number of these songs could work in a radio-ready context, such as the reflective "Nice Things About Us", the white-trash paean "Where's the Hole?" and the harder-rocking "Run In the Family." He also whips out a few humorous lines and some social commentary on tracks such as "Word From Our Sponsor" and "Master of the Obvious."
However, Price has made it clear that he doesn't intend to slog it out in the clubs with this CD, competing with the sounds of beer bottles clanking and the Steelers on TV. Rather, emulating the established boomer phenomenon of folksy house concerts, he'll come to your living room and play these songs in a stripped-down three-piece version of the band. After all, as Price mentions in "The Wedge," a moving song about a girl growing up with dysfunctional parents, he's taken "almost two decades to get it right." An effort like this CD deserves to be carefully heard.
