Regular Columnists

Artist: Joey Checketts
Album: The Folklore Passages
CD Review:
Joey's 17 songs, relaxed and relaxing as they are, seem to rely on two things - his voice and his guitar. A hard act to pull off at the best of times and something Joey falls a bit flat on in all respects.
Not to say that his songs don't have merit or interest, but I found his voice, his playing and his lyrical insights a little less than exciting and fairly obvious.
Conclusion? Well, it's hard to get excited to listen to something that doesn't even seem exciting to the artist.
All this while singing all the while about very serious issues of life, happiness and how & where to find it. Listening to 'Barefoot Happiness' only made me wonder if the song was meant to be ironic.
The distant, breathy vocals wear thin and the playing lingers as it is just an able assistant to the vocals.
Joey redeems himself a few times for me, most notably when he really sings it out, going high on 'secret' and 'every person'. A lot more of that and I would have been led to believe that the man can deliver a solid, versatile vocal performance. It's there, and I'd rather hear more of it.

It sounds like Joey is hiding a bit behind some a veil of fog - both in the vocals and the production. If he transcends those, that would at least be a better starting point to having his music be more digestible.
Until then, I've had my fill.

Contact: Joey
Website: Joey Checketts