the songs of dave cofell

i am not one to write critical prose
directed at the elucidation of art

despite this fact i am thus compelled this morning
to pay some attention to a CD
that came into my hands recently
entitled
THE ROAD AHEAD

my take upon listening to this CD in a car
while traveling on the north shore of Lake Superior
with friends must be understood as being
mostly subjective
for i have played music with the composer
and have an intimate knowledge of the
songs and their content as well as their
presentation here

that being said i think it safe to say
that nothing great has been accomplished
by the production of this CD
it is a self produced effort
with minimal technology
processed through one of the programs available
on computers for recording
and this appears to be obvious
the photos attending the intent for
whatever commercial value this event may proclaim
are the work of the artist himself
depicting the back of a man with a guitar
supposedly the artist himself
walking by a portable advertisement
for a performance in a local
St. Joseph MN coffee house
at night
the photo on the back represents the walk bridge
over I-94 between the place where the artist grew up
and the place known as St. John's

the 14 songs presented in this recording
represent the best of the personal compositions
Dave Cofell has penned out and performed in recent years
recent being the last 30 years
for the most part the content of the lyrics are personal
deriving from the experience of a family man
and an artist
there are memories of friends of broken relationships
of joys and disappointments in life in family
there are also a few songs
e.g. TIC and LONGLINE
which represent to the listener
a philosophical bent in the composer

the simplicity of effects on the recording
is perhaps the greatest technical virtue of the work
in question
guitar voice and occasional harmonica
make up the sonic weave
so in this regard a certain admiration might ensue
recognizing the willingness of an artist
to work within natural constraints and not be
tempted to embellish the songs with
extraneous sounds

and most of the songs represent the serious side
of dave cofell
which is a shame for he has written numerous humorous
songs
and the tedium and rather narrow scope
from song to song might have been given more
interesting breadth had he chosen to record some of the instrumental
works for which he is known

be that as it may
THE ROAD AHEAD is a moment in time
and a very definite place
dave cofell writes songs about what he knows
and to this effect it may be said
that he presents himself and his experiences
rather confidently in this somewhat impressive collection of tunes

upon listening to the songs in sequence i became aware of
a looseness and an unrefined quality
that is perhaps distorted in the attempt to record
the balance between voice and guitar seemed to me
to be something that may have benefitted from a little more attention
but then point in fact that is a difficult balance to make
perhaps the presence of a very critical set of ears
might have helped the overall production
but that is a point best understood as moot
pointing to perhaps a different angle on another recording

i was also aware of a self consciousness in the recording
that i have not experienced in playing live with this artist
an attempt to give some sort of added artistic quality
seems to have militated against the no nonsense naturalness
for which he is locally famous
vocal affects and an attempt to refine the voicings of the guitar
in particular struck me as just that "affected"

has anything of importance been accomplished?
is this an important musical moment?
is recording necessary?
one begins to wonder
what is the point?
in a musical climate that can only be understood
as a sea of electronically induced saturation
who will be able to hear dave cofell on this CD?

the work may be admired for its deliberate simplicity
of presentation and the honest expression worked out
in lyrical and sung forms
but the force of the music is lost in the recording
for dave cofell is to be heard live and unplugged
his is a voice and a style that militates against
wanton commercialism

that he chooses to pursue this path could be called interesting
but this critic (and the only one who would ever bother to put out the effort)
sees and hears the whole affair as somewhat superfluous to
the the natural efforts of the artist

pushing the music of intimate personal expression
beyond the parameters of the actual nature of his
informal personal style detracts rather than adds
to the understanding of his art

people who know dave cofell may own the CD
and listen to it once or twice with interest
and friendly affection
but that is as far as it goes

my copy remains unopened
the cellophane still tidily containing
the plastic...the frozen art within
perhaps i will open the thing
at some later time
when i wish to recall what he thought he was doing
and maybe therein i will discern by way of abstract artifice
the intentions
indeed the reductions that came about
in order to make this artistic musical statement

until then i will always prefer to be present
to the live voice and playing of dave cofell
for i contend
it is only there that the quality and ability
of this homespun troubadour is to be discerned