Railroad Blessing By Sam Payne Spiral Studios (St. George, Utah), 2002. CD. Genre: Music
Reviewed by: Tracie Laulusa

Sam Payne. "Railroad Blessing." (CD).
Produced by Steve Lemmon and Sam Payne
Mastered at Spiral Studios, St. George Utah.

It can be ordered via a link on Sam's website: www.sampayne.com, or wherever CDs are sold in Southern Utah.

I hesitate to call this a review. I am a musician -- classical flute. And though I listen to a variety of musical genres, I am not knowledgeable enough to write an educated review of folk music. All I can do, then, is give a listener's opinion.

Music has been a topic of limited discussion on AML, but I first met Sam Payne as a writer, not a musician, on the MPL (mormon poets list). Over the last few years he has posted many of his lyrics there. As poetry, they work. They are varied, thought provoking, readable, rythmic without cliche. While reading them, I have looked forward to eventually hearing the whole sound.

I was fortunate enough to hear a little bit of a sneak preview once when out in UT for a CES symposium. Meeting Sam and hearing some of his music -- just him and his guitar, has probably influenced how I listen to his CD. I've found that I enjoy reading books and listening to music by people that I sort of know, perhaps a degree more than I would have if it was someone I had no connection with. It feels a little bit like visiting with a friend. I have the same response to works I visit after hearing or reading an indepth interview with the artist/writer.

First -- my gripe. The shipping! I don't know about the rest of you, but $5 for shipping seemed a bit much. I have heard that CDs are overpriced to begin with, since they cost less than tapes to produce, and then $5 shipping! I have a feeling Sam's not the one raking it in either -- unfortunately. And then the first shipment somehow went astray. On the positive side, once I notified the company handling the cd, they shipped another one promptly, and then followed up to make sure I got it.

So, on to the music. Many singer/songwriters seem to write from personal experience. If you know about their life you can trace the beginnings of many of their songs. Or they are about the ever present pop themes of love and sex. Railroad Blessing's lyrics run a gamat of experiences that I doubt Sam has personally had -- being in space, sending a son off to war, climbing Everest, being a mother......yet, he writes convincingly. An astronaut might not come home and write the same song Sam wrote, but he could have. And, though it wasn't an Ohio farmer who wrote Ohio Son, and stood in his fields thinking of other fields, I can picture him standing there. (BTW, I may be interpreting some of these songs not as intended. I'm giving you the how-I-read-them). These two songs in particular also touched a cord with recent events, though they were written before the space shuttle blew, and we started seeing some of our friend's units called up in preparation for war.

Not all the lyrics make total sense to me. But that's ok, even a plus. More to think about the next listen.

I like the sound of this CD. The musicians do an absolutely fine job. And they sound like they had a great time doing it. There is a good mix of background sound. Just piano to a pretty full sound.

That said, one perhaps draw back of the cd for me is that there isn't much change of pace. But then, I haven't taken the opportunity to just sit and listen and analyse. I put it on, then am off doing all the things that need doing, with kids usually talking my ear off. So, from a casual listen, a bit more tempo variety would probably been a plus.

Congrats Sam. This will be one I wear out. Hope some other listers take the opportunity to give it a listen.

Tracie Laulusa