The Red and Black

How many songs must a man write down, before you can give him a hand?

The wind must have blown the answer right past singer/songwriter Brandon Reeves.

The Deacon Brandon Reeves is a folk acoustic singer-songwriter from Atlanta.

He has recently performed in Athens venues such as the Flicker Theatre & Bar and the Melting Point.

The solo artist, who received a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz studies from Georgia State University, uses only his voice and resonator guitar on all nine tracks of his new album, "One of these Days."

You will come to one of two conclusions by the end of Reeves' album.

Either the music professors at GSU teach some really crappy courses, or "How to Write Folksongs for Dummies" was a huge mistake.

If anything, Reeves' lyrical work is his most considerable aspect.

The easeful slides and picks of his metalbodied resonator guitar deliver a more intimate tone to messages such as "I'd be lonely as Satan, busy as hell" and "This ground might be holy, but these shoes are clean."

While Reeves may sound like he's repeating himself at times, his lyrics remain poignant and maintain a sense of urgency around the subjects of redemption, war and references to Christianity.

Sadly, Reeves' overall lack of musicianship ruins the effect. Almost every track is structured in the same way.

First is the standard verse, followed by a bridge, and ended with a short and uninspiring chorus.

The only instrumental sound, his resonator guitar, is used to no advantage. Reeves not only applies the simplest chords, his music also bears a blinding sense of repetition.

Most of the tracks are so underdeveloped that they merely sound like different versions of each other.

The only way to distinguish the songs from one another would be through his lyrics, although they become repetitive as well.

Chord progression and homophony are crucial to even the most traditional and simplistic forms of folk music.

Chet Atkins and Neil Young are just a few clear examples.

Brandon Reeves, like many other contemporary artists, is obviously too afraid to escape the confines of a consistently narrow sound.

He decides to keep it simple and consistent, rather than putting any sort of effort into the potential of his own musicality.

What you get is another shallow, phony artist who talks the talk - a rolling stone, if you will.

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