Dave Rudolf: "Time Does Fly" (2025) CD Review

Dave Rudolf is a singer and songwriter who seems to be completely at home in every genre of music he explores, and he explores quite a few. His new album, Time Does Fly, features mostly original material, songs in the rock, pop, and country realms, songs delivered with passion and joy. Joining the singer and guitarist on this release are JimWidlowski on drums, Felton Offard on guitar, Jack Whittle on guitar, Mark Evans on guitar, Wally Hustin on bass, Al Joseph on violin, Gary Victorine on pedal steel,Thomas Linsk on keyboards, John Chorney on keyboards and organ, Michael Hesiak on saxophone, Tim Bales on trumpet and trombone, and Marsha Lynne Smith on backing vocals.

Dave Rudolf opens the new album with "Find Some Common Ground," a cool, soulful, bluesy number about the divisive state of things in this country, about the atmosphere of rampant racism and sexism inflamed by the rapist in the White House. "We must stand against the forces," Dave sings here. People all over this country are doing just that. While it seems that much of our common ground has disappeared in recent years, we all have common needs, as Dave mentions: "We all want to feed our families/We all want to live in peace." People need to remember and recognize those common needs, though I doubt a significant portion of the population will be able to do that until the current administration is completely destroyed. Some really nice backing vocal work adds to the track's great soulful sound. Plus, this track contains some good stuff from the horns. Dave Rudolf then turns to a gentle country vibe with "Calico And Shanna," a love song, and actually a love story song. The excellent pedal steel work helps set the mood, and it is Dave's strong vocal performance that drives the track.

Things become more energetic with "There's Enough Of Me To Go Around," which has a delicious, jazzy rock sound. This track features some wonderful stuff on guitar, keys and horns, as well as a fun, raw vocal performance, with just the right amount of attitude for the character of the song, a man who thinks quite highly of himself. There is a lot of bragging in songs, and Dave Rudolf is kind of poking fun at that sort of thing, while simultaneously turning in a great tune in that realm. It features some really good drumming too, and the band gets a chance to jam at the end, helping to make this track one of my favorites. That's followed by the album's sole cover, Guy Clark's "Tornado Time In Texas." This is another fun song, and Dave Rudolf does a wonderful job with it. There is a cheerful, jazzy element to this rendition, and I am especially drawn to that lead on guitar. The lines I've always loved from this song are: "Now when pigs can fly/No, I mean really fly/You can bet that it's blowing hard/Uncle Clarence was sitting in the outhouse/Now he's sitting in the yard." Who doesn't love Guy Clark? It's clear that Dave Rudolf loves this song, and is enjoying delivering this excellent rendition to us.

Check out the opening lines to "I've Got No Time For That": "I've got my hopes, I've got my plans/I'm not afraid to work hard with my hands/I can't listen to the doubts and fears/Of those who whisper in my ear/But I've got no time for that/There's too much left to do/Don't try to slow me down/Because there's dreams I must pursue." Oh yes, those lines contain a message that I appreciate. Life is too short to listen to those who tend to quash our dreams. We mustn't let them persuade us to give up on our dreams, no matter how old we are. I like that steady work on keys, putting it in the same realm as some of the music from Harry Nilsson. This is another of the disc's highlights. It is followed by "We Just Fit," a love song with a romantic bent, offering us this beautiful line: "And in her eyes lies my entire world." I hope everyone gets a chance to feel exactly what that line expresses. This track contains some pretty guitar work. It's funny, because at the beginning Dave sings, "She's not the kind they write songs about," a line he repeats at the end, yet here is a song about her. So, no, they did not write a song about her, but he did. Your special someone is a person that only you can write about, right? Therein is the beauty of it, the wonder of it.

"She's Got Me Addled" is a different sort of love song, a fun pop rock number, kind of in the same realm as Elvis Costello. These lines made me burst out laughing: "I'd watch some football, have a couple of beers/Now I watch Hallmark and I burst into tears." My girlfriend enjoys those Hallmark Christmas movies (there are so many of them, more than I ever could have imagined), and so I watch them with her. I have to remember to play this song for her. She'll also appreciate the line about yoga. Though, unlike the woman of this song, my girlfriend isn't really "changing me into something I'm not." Things start swinging with "My, Time Does Fly," this delicious rockabilly track featuring some excellent guitar work. Time certainly flies, and the older I get, the faster it goes. The music here flies too, moving at a good clip. This is a fun track. Then "Let The Healing Begin" has more of a reggae sound and rhythm, which is fitting for its subject, its lyrics. "It's time to rise up, let the healing begin." It's going to take a lot of work. Somehow humanity has gone the wrong way again, embracing fascism and greed, and ignoring the damage to our environment, repeating its old mistakes. "The Earth cries out from the poison we spread."

There is a nice humor to "That Can't Be Me." At the beginning, he's looking back at his photo from his high school yearbook. Maybe I was smart to toss that thing in the trash within a year after graduating, so there is no looking back for me, at least not in that way. But I do look back, of course. How can any of us help it? "It's still a mystery/It seems like those old times are history." And the lines about looking in the mirror and seeing an older stranger are ones to which many of us can relate. Dave then goes back to a country flavor with "We Got Everything We Need." In this one he sings, "Everybody's in a hurry these days/They're going somewhere and they can't be late." Indeed. This is a song that urges us to appreciate what we have, and to take the time to do so. After all, we'll be dead before too long. It is difficult to keep from wanting more and sometimes feeling like a loser for our position in life. But we have great music and friends and love. "We ain't got much, but it's more than enough."

"I have so many flaws/I've done things I'm not proud of," Dave Rudolf sings in "Don't Follow In My Footsteps," a song in which he urges someone to avoid making those same mistakes. This track features a passionate vocal performance, aided by some nice backing vocal work. That's followed by "Desperado For Love," which has a soft country rock flavor, which you might expect from its title. "For without you, my soul is lost," he declares at the end. The fiddle then sets the tone immediately on "On The Way Home," this song having a delicious Cajun flavor. It's a fun number. "I'm heading toward my home at last." I've said this before, but somehow going home always sounds appealing in song; interestingly, so does hitting the road. This track is a delight. A sweet and pretty country sound is established at the beginning of "I Used To Have A Heart" before Dave comes in on vocals. "I used to have a heart/Before she ripped it from my chest," he then sings. Wonderful! And yet he still longs for her. This is another of the disc's highlights.

The saxophone helps set the tone of "The Wreckage Of Love Spent," a slow number that looks back to when a relationship was better. There is good work on sax throughout the track, and another passionate, strong vocal performance. That's followed by "These Are The Things," an unabashed, unequivocal love song, featuring some beautiful work on violin. "Everything that I am, every vision or sound/They only have meaning when you are around/And through every misstep when I suffer defeat/Yours are the hands that lift me to my feet." Life is not easy, but having that special someone by your side makes all the difference. And that's what this song is about. There is a really nice lead on guitar in the second half. Dave Rudolf then wraps up the album with "The Promise Of Your Love," a fun, lively number, the horns creating a celebratory air. "It's the hope that keeps us going through the darkest hours." Yes, yes, yes. "We don't have a lot of money, no mansion on a hill/But when we are together we still feel that same old thrill/With the chaos all around us, we will always rise above." Those are good lines to keep in mind during these stressful, uncertain times.

CD Track List

1. Find Some Common Ground
2. Calico And Shanna
3. There's Enough Of Me To Go Around
4. Tornado Time In Texas
5. I've Got No Time For That
6. We Just Fit
7. She's Got Me Addled
8. My, Time Does Fly
9. Let The Healing Begin
10. That Can't Be Me
11. We Got Everything We Need
12. Don't Follow In My Footsteps
13. Desperado For Love
14. On The Way Home
15. I Used To Have A Heart
16. The Wreckage Of Love Spent
17. These Are The Things
18. The Promise Of Your Love

Time Does Fly was released on April 2, 2025.