There’s long been a strange sort of fascination with the desert among musicians and music-lovers. Many have gone out there for inspiration or solace, or seeking space or that undefined special something (they know it when they feel it). And some of them have stayed. Pat and Susan Kearns have created something out there, after their move from Portland, Oregon. They have their own recording studio, Goat Mountain Recording, powered by solar energy in the Mojave Desert. And the land certainly has an effect on their music, on their art. You can see it in Susan’s paintings, and hear it in Pat’s songs. The Kearns Family’s new album, Together And Alone, features all original music, these songs populated by characters that seem inherent to the desert landscape, their tales blowing in on a warm, dusty breeze. By the way, the record’s packaging includes a gatefold, featuring some beautiful artwork by Susan Kearns. Records with gatefolds always take me back to my childhood, when I would sit on my dad’s chair with the album open on my lap, listening attentively to every note, every word. And this is just the sort of record you want to give that kind of attention to.
Side 1
The album opens with “The Dust,” the song chosen for the first single, released a couple of months ago. The song has a strong, true folk sound, with a somewhat haunted vibe. “When I was younger, my mind was sharp/The paint wasn’t peeling and I had a loving heart/Now the dust keeps creepin’ in the corners.” As we listen, we feel we can see the faded paint, the dust in the corners which threatens to take over the entire room. There is a certain age to the sound, and whatever that age is, while we listen, we are of it too. We become a part of the landscape. “The dust keeps creepin’ in/The dust keeps creepin’ in/And I keep sweepin’ it.” Hearing those lines near the end, it’s hard to keep from thinking of The Last Picture Show. I suspect you know exactly what I’m talking about. There is that sort of atmosphere, something desolate and desperate and perhaps futile. That feeling is heightened in the next track, “Bandito,” by the presence of harmonica at the beginning, the instrument in a gorgeous fit of melancholy. And the lyrics again place us out there on the land, and with an empty canteen. “I can’t catch you, but the wind and sun/Will stop you dead, you can’t outrun/Oh, bandito, in the setting sun.” There is the fear that the sun setting means an end for us all. And when the harmonica comes crying again, it is like an epitaph being burned into the land itself.
“The Old Days” has something of a sweeter vibe, even if the past being remembered brings a mixed bag of emotions. We have a fondness for the past, even if it held pain. But most of the pain is of the present. “Now he’s gone and I feel blue/My heart aches, I long for the old days.” Those lines tore a hole in me, or rather widened one that was already there. But it’s okay, for “Once in a while we all feel blue.” I’m told it won’t happen as often as time passes, but so far I’m not seeing it play out that way. Then “You Got No Claim To The Mine” presents a dark, lonesome sort of dance. The lyrics are delivered in a sort of desperate whisper, as from a man who has used his voice up through experience, or has some fear of shouting out his intentions, his needs. “I’ve labored long and hard for bread/So on my pride you will not tread.” Interestingly, there is a line that is delivered in a completely different voice, different style, a line we hear twice: “A second chance to make an ascension, a fortune, a climb.” That voice itself seems to rise above. This track also features some nice work on bass. There is a dark edge to “Daytime Moon” as well. Ghosts are heard in the music. They are in the air. “Where at one time there were three, there now are four/Every time you glance away and back, there’s more/There were so many there riding under a daytime moon/All were singing the same tune.” Yet I hear hope in the guitar work.
Side 2
The second side opens with “The Funny Thing About Keeping Moving,” which features some good, prominent bass work at the start. In its first lines, this song looks back to childhood. And then he sings, “When I turned eighteen I turned out wild.” This song is told from the perspective of a drifter, a wanderer, a man on the run, and Pat uses a voice that fits perfectly. “Once in motion one tends to continue on.” You get the feeling he is staying here only long enough to sing this song, to tell us his story, and then he’ll be gone. This feels like a story of the desert. Don’t we imagine these sorts of folks are out there going about their lives? I imagine the desert contains many such tales. This track features a wonderfully sad wailing on the harmonica. Then “Charlie” has a gentler, prettier vibe as it starts. This one also tells of a certain character, but this time not from his own perspective. Rather he is described by someone who knows him. “You can’t be straight to hang with Charlie/‘Cause Charlie’s always high and drinking/He’s a good friend, he’s always pouring/Even when it rains up in heaven.” Some folks disappear from our lives without a goodbye, and we don’t know those final encounters are so final, not at the time.
There is always something appealing about the road in song, especially a long road. The opening lines of “That’s Not What I Thought It Would Be” are “It’s a long, long road/And a very rough last mile/To come all the way, way out here.” I’m ready to think of it as metaphor, but of course some travels do take us off the paved roads and the last bit is literally rough road. After all, aren’t we talking about the desert here? “There will always be the good times and the bad times as well/We have a past, but now you’re standing there in front of me/And that’s not what I thought it would be.” This song features some nice harmonica work, but with a very different tone than the previous tracks. This is more in line with that typical folk sound, the sort of thing we learned to expect from listening to early Bob Dylan records. The record then concludes with “Love Will Win In The End.” There is a gentle folk feel to this song. “You say you’re in love not with me with him/I thought we were in love, but I was mistaken.” Susan joins him on vocals on the line, “You best believe that love will win.” And indeed we do, for the song went from describing the woman driving off in her convertible to the two of them driving off together in the same car. See, there are happy endings, especially when you rewrite them. Susan sings the song’s final line, “Time after time after time again.”
Record Track List
Side 1
- The Dust
- Bandito
- The Old Days
- You Got No Claim To The Mine
- Daytime Moon
Side 2
- The Funny Thing About Keeping Moving
- Charlie
- That’s Not What I Thought It Would Be
- Love Will Win In The End
Together And Alone is scheduled to be released on January 31, 2025.
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