Don Campbell’s new CD, “American Garage”, revives the art of the long-playing album.

In these days of digital downloads, MySpace pages, and mp3 players, the concept of an LP record is getting lost.  Don and his executive producer and wife Tonya Shevenell have brought it all back in this eclectic collection of country tunes, folky ballads, and pop-rock infused songs about lasting romance, heroes, and the spaces in our lives that help us keep our perspective.

The album takes you for a ride in Don’s old ’55 Chevy pickup across a gently rolling countryside.  It begins in the flatlands, where the driving is easy and fast.  Pretty soon, you roll up and down a couple of nicely contoured hills that give you a lift and help you see the surrounding scenery.  Then, all at once, you are in the highlands, driving up the steeper grades, enjoying the breathtaking view, and feeling the deep emotions engendered by inspiration and creativity.  Finally, you coast back down to your home, appreciating familiar, well-loved territory at the end of the journey; territory that has been given a new perspective by the entire experience.

In “Beautiful Rain”, Don’s finger picked guitar evokes the dripping rain at the end of a drenching summer storm, and the minor key provides an intriguing trellis upon which the vocal melody twists and grows through the song.  A mood of gratitude and appreciation for the twin gifts of the world’s beauty, and of having someone with which to share them, infuses the lyrics.

“My Old Garage” showcases Don’s talent for writing authentic country songs that avoid the trite hooks and limited themes infecting commercial country today. Yes, there is beer, a hound dog, a football, trout fishing, and even a rifle.  But these symbols of the male comfort zone are invoked through a very personal, sensitive lens that is not gratuitous and shallow, as is much of today’s pop country tripe.  With this song, Don restores the original, authentic meaning of the phrase “my space”.  The online community of that name has warped the concept into some frenetic type of impersonal interaction instead of a place of quiet, a private spot for centering oneself.

Don has become one hell of a songwriter.  I’ve always thought he had plenty of talent, but there is one song on this album that locks it up for me.  “Finding Your Way Home” brought tears to my own songwriter’s eyes, tears of admiration, and of longing for the ability to someday write something myself that is this good.  The song is an invitation to fellowship, an extended hand, to the desperate, the depressed, who may be thinking of taking their own life.  Don’s warm, comforting lead vocals, and the optimistic, upbeat melody and harmonic structures could lead the loneliest of souls back to the circle of support that they need in finding their way home.

“There’s a place called desperation

Where the lesser choice gets made

Where you feel alone and your’re not aware

Of the friendships that you’ve made

It’s when your mind feels like a speedin’ train

That’s runnin’ out of track

But you can’t slow down just long enough

To think about turnin’ back

But don’t you go… “

Don closes out this sumptuous meal with two great desert items – his wonderful takes on Tom Wait’s  “Ol ‘55”, and Jim Steinman’s “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad”.   This, again, reflects Don’s focus on songwriting, as these are two of the most finely crafted tunes out in the songsphere today.  “Ol ‘55” was popularized by the Eagles; Don’s version is just as devastatingly soulful.  Meathloaf made “Two Out of Three..” a rock standard.  Don turns it into a great country tune, proving that a great song is a great song, regardless of how it’s interpreted.

There’s a killer electric guitar solo by Sumner McKane on “The Hero in Me”, and Andy Happel contributes his best fiddler’s hand to many of these songs.  Percussion is courtesy of Todd Richard.  Aside from that, Don played all the other instruments and sang all the backing vocals, plus, mixed the tracks and mastered the album (with the help of Andy Happel).