CD Review: Dan Blakeslee’s “Tatnic Tales” / Pea Pod Recordings (2010)

CD Review: Dan Blakeslee’s “Tatnic Tales” / Pea Pod Recordings (2010)




REVIEW BY:
Reza Tokaloo




The name Dan Blakeslee seems to be getting around town (Boston area) more and more these days. This well established graphic artist is also a budding singer/songwriter/guitarist with an up coming CD to be out on Pea Pod Recordings: “Tatric Tales.” Sporting a well done cover by Blakeslee, “Tales” is a 10 song CD with the songs devised in an album format: the first 5 songs under side A, and the last 5 songs under side B.

Now to the music!

Blakeslee’s band is a very solid instrument playing troupe, with all of the musicians adept and dependable, supporting Blakeslee’s voice very well. The songs are a blend of American musical styles: American folk, southern country, jazz, blues, and also some good old fashioned rock n roll. Blakeslee keeps his singing within a melancholy range. No yelling, screaming, or falsettos here. His lyrics maintaining good folk-style story telling that also contain images of nature and life that produce vivid realizations for the listener. You can feel the movement and rumble of a train ride in the song “Wizard Nor King.” The songs, and the musical styles, are spread out nicely like a finely made carpet. Rock, folk, mountain song, and jazz meet and blend well together in a “down home” meets modern concoction that can work in a variety of musical settings, either in a smoky pub or on a CD. Other great tracks to check out on this album are: “The Swinger” (a sort of saloon folk-a-billy), “Shifting of Sand” (country with some soulful blues set to a waltzing folk beat), and “On the Watch” (very solid country beat).

Keep an eye out for Dan Blakeslee and his group. His will be a name we will be hearing from in the future.