Break Me Open: A review and a look back

Johnsmith has a new CD out, called Break Me Open. In many ways, it represents his best work, and also an overview of his entire body of work.

Full disclosure: I have known John for 25 years, since we both worked for Wisconsin's greatest improvisional comedy group, Heart of La Crosse. He introduced me to how music can really move peoples' souls. The first Johnsmith song that grabbed my soul was Buffalo Brother. Its is an heartfelt song of longing for the iconic animal of the american plains. It is a simple song, and one that I sing to my daugthers.

Themes in Johnsmith's Music

John's latest album is continues the trend from his previous work, hopeful and deeply personal songs that seems to describe the current state of his life. As someone who knew John 25 years ago, in a small way, I feel I have kept in touch with him through his music. In his early music, like his work with Hans Mayer "In the Blend", he sang the songs of a young man facing a young man's crucial decisions, like the song "Perservere". As someone who travels a lot, there are a lot of songs about life on the road, like East of the Sun, on the same album, and "Traveler," a song on his Irish-themed album of the same name. Later, after he started life with Jojo and they had kids, his songs became the songs of a father watching his children grow. In his breakout album "Hole in the Clouds", his song "Growin' Up So Fast" is about all fathers' wonder at watching their children grow into adults. Another song "Dad Don't Worry" is sung from the late adolescent child's point of view, telling the parent that they'll be all right. In this song, we here John coming to terms with his own conversation with his parents, when he left his boyhood home in Iowa years before. What goes around comes around.

"Hole In The Clouds" also introduces us to two new themes. The first theme is about his parents, and dealing with their aging process. In "From His Window", we hear John's attempts at coming to terms with what can only be his father's Alzhimers disease. In "The Four Directions" we find that his Dad has passed away in "That's My Dad". The song is a moving, positive rememberance of a life. I can only wish to be remembered as fondly. John's mother is remembered fondly as well. In "Pedal to the Medal" we find out what its like driving with your mother too close to a tornado. He also dedicates his latest album to to his mother. The second theme is John's love of nature. 25 years ago, John was a naturalist at Perot State Park in western Wisconsin, near John's home in Trempealeau. In "The Four Directions", we hear "Down a Gravel Road", a song about the beauty of the wild, and his deep respect for the spirituality of native Americans.

Break Me Open

As a whole, Break Me Open is a great album. John has assembled a great set of musicians to play with, including Suzy Ragsdale on vocals, and ace Fiddle player Tim O'Brien. Having O'Brien on this album is a testament to the much deserved success John has recently found. His daughter Elisi makes an appearance in the album as well, and she is clearly her father's daughter. Her clear, high voice is a perfect match for John's, and I am sure he must be very proud of her.

Break Me Open, well, "opens" with a native American themed song "Back to the Mystery", and it covers a number of themes. First, he makes a reference to the "The Four Directions", and sings about his travels and the pull back to his roots in nature. He also makes reference to his family, mentioning his children, and the death of his father. The song ends with a native American chant perfectly blended into the coda.

If you want to know what its like to live in Western Wisconsin in March and April, listen to Pothole Season. The song describes feeling of being shut in, and having to endure another day of bad weather after 6 months of it. But the song resolves, as do the chords, into a song of hope for spring.

Many of John's best songs are about the modulation of love across a lifetime reltionship. The Honest Truth picks up the thread from his earlier work like "Darlin' I do" from "In the Blend", and he continues it with "Messy Thing" and "Love's Not Through With Me."

The best art evokes powerful reactions. The song "Cold Cold Ground" is such a song. There are times when I can't listen do this song. It is a beautiful song, but the emotions are so intense and so personal. In this song, John has written a folky, major-key dirge for his brother Davey, who recently died. My own brother, also named David, has a very dangerous job, and I worry about him a lot, and I hope this song never becomes a reality for me.

"Silver Creek" is also a very powerful song for me as well for completely different reasons. I know John grew up in Iowa and lives in Trempealeau, one county to the north of La Crosse, where I grew up. But we has a place like this, called Miller's Pond. It was a n offshoot of the western fork of the Mississippi river and we got there by turning off of I-90 on the way to La Crescent. He describes it perfectly. Skinny-dipping by the light of the moon, jumping into the water from the railroad bridge. John has raised this experience to one of universality of growing up and growing old.

The album's eponymous song "Break Me Open" is a blues prayer invoking the creative gods to break his soul and emotions open and let them flood out and into his music. John also brings back his partner from the Runaway duo, Dan Sebranek, another luminary in the vibrant (though undercovered) Western Wisconsin music seen that also includes the likes of L. J. Booth, who is also credited on the album.

My favorite song on the album is "Box Elder", which is a song about a tree. It is originally a song by LJ Booth, also from Western Wisconsin. It is a very rich song, and has so many different levels. It starts out with a riff reminicent of Lyle Lovett's "Closing Time". The tree becomes a metaphor for struggles of life, and also of transcendence. His daughter Elisi sings harmony on this song, and is the perfect complement to her father. In some ways it reminds me of another one of my favorite songs "Part Time Angels". He also conjures up some great images, like the poor FedEx man. There are also times when John's faith comes through his music. His mention of Calvary transforms the tree into something sad and yet powerfully redemptive in its will to live.

Picking up on his "travelling man" theme, "21 miles" is about coming home after a tour of the southern states. He describes the directions from Oklahoma to Trempealeau perfectly, and we get another glimpse of the home that he and Jojo have built over the years.

Finally, he conjures up a song that recalls his work on "Traveller", "So Here's To You". The song is a Celtic toast to friends, and the kind of friendship that develops over the years. It is a simple beautiful song. The final harmonies are classic Johnsmith, clear, honest and pitch-perfect.

Go buy this CD

Break Me Open is as good a work as Johnsmith has ever done. It is a letter from him to us, telling us how things are in his life and what's on his mind, all set to music. It continues the themes he first brought forward 25 years ago and tells us he has much more to say. So Here's To You, John. I can't wait until the next album.