When I got the press release for Philadelphia native Vance Gilbert’s upcoming album, The Mother of Trouble, it noted the project contained “4 bullies, 4 deaths (3 of them murders), 3 moms, 2 accidents, 2 Black people, 2 dogs, 1 dog ball, and one missed flight due to gas station sushi.” I mean, who’s not going to give that at least one listen. It turns out the music is as varied as the lyrical content. That’s reasonably explained by Gilbert’s initial love of R&B and jazz, followed by the discovery of the story-telling potential of folk when he attended a small Northeastern liberal arts college.
The CD starts off with the title track, a 70’s funk rock number featuring Joey Landreth on wah-wah guitar. It’s a tale of a mother who finally “corrects” her problem son. A couple of tracks later comes Body in the Well, another funky murder ballad advising against drinking the water since “we ain’t seen Daddy in a week”. Although I’m not sure it adds to the death toll, you can tick off one of the bullies boxes with Honeysuckle Fences, a more traditional folk number where the tables get turned on the louts. Black Rochelle is a reminder we all have some regrets and did things we’re not proud of, and it’s one of multiple songs that feature Lori McKenna on background vocals.
Several numbers embrace more of a jazz style. Bad For Me is a 50’s pop/swing tune about that person that’s invariably the match that starts the unintended fire. I Hope He’s the One This Time has a jazz lounge groove with Gilbert on piano instead of guitar. Hand Back the Keys is a Hammond B2-laden story with the aforementioned gas station sushi. Leaning into the pure folk genre, Simple Things is a stylistic shout-out to John Prine, and Gilbert does an admirable job of capturing the kind of observations Prine was so good at seeing. The CD finishes with Walk Slowly With Me, a bittersweet ballad that will bring tears to the eyes of any dog lover.
This is Vance Gilbert’s 14th album across 30 years. He’s toured with Grammy winners, played just about every room or festival that matters, and opened hundreds of shows for comedians Paul Reiser and George Carlin. On top of that he’s done over 150 two-and-a-half hour YouTube shows. By this point in their career, most performers are zeroed in on playing fan favorites and a few new songs for a change of pace. Gilbert, on the other hand, is some sort of one-man musical universe that just keeps expanding. The Mother of Trouble is a brilliant sampling of what he has to offer, and is bound to be a little different and also a little similar, to whatever you’ve been listening to lately.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.