Chad Richard: “Worthy Cause” (2019) CD Review

Chad Richard is a singer and songwriter based in Texas. Last year he released Worthy Cause, an excellent album of original material, honest songs full of humanity and devoid of artifice. Joining him on this album are Walt Wilkins on guitar and percussion, Ray Rodriguez on drums and percussion, Bill Small on bass, Corby Schaub on lap steel, Chip Dolan on keys, Marian Brackney on violin and viola, Geoff Queen on steel guitar and dobro, Ron Flynt on bass and keys, and Tina Mitchell Wilkins on backing vocals.

The album opens with “Slow Rollin’ State Line,” an easygoing country number featuring some nice work on keys and strings. It’s a song about the Sabine, the area where Louisiana and Texas meet, where Chad Richard grew up. Matt Giles joins Chad on electric guitar on this track. It’s a good song, but the first time I listened to this album it was the second track, “Love Anyway,” that really got me on board. This is a beautiful, honest and important song, particularly these days when we feel we are getting screwed and being lied to daily. The message here is in the song’s title: “Love Anyway.” “People hurt people every day/No, that’s not okay/But love anyway.” It’s not always easy, but it is always the right way to go, we can feel that in our bones. This song is also about admitting our own shortcomings. “Grace and mercy live in every heart/Sometimes forgiving ourselves is the hardest part.” This one features some pretty work from Marian Brackney. It’s a wonderful song, and I highly recommend checking it out. That’s followed by another pretty and moving song, “German Angel,” which features an excellent, passionate vocal performance from Chad Richard. It’s a song told from the perspective of a ghost who chooses to remain in an earthly spot. “On the day I earned my wings, I heard a voice/Saying I could look after this place or I could leave/Choosing these limestone walls over streets of gold was not an easy choice/But this is close enough to heaven for me.” I like especially like this line: “And this old house is so full of love, I see no reason to make room for fear,” which includes a nice pause before “for fear.”

“Right Now” has a happier, brighter country sound. This one too seems to, at least partly, celebrate a certain place, which seems a theme of these songs: “And I’m not looking to go nowhere/I am as happy here as anywhere I’ve found/On this little piece of ground.” It’s interesting that he sings of trying to slow things down, because this song moves along with a decent energy, and a beat that seems to say it’s okay to move forward. “The past can conjure up regrets/And the future, well, it ain’t even happened yet/All that matters is right now.” Well, yes, sort of, but we do need to keep an eye on the future to ensure that there is one. That’s followed by “Worthy Cause,” the album’s title track. I think Chad Richard is at his very best on these slower, pensive numbers. This song is beautiful and stirring, yet still with some humor, heard in a line like “I can put both feet in my mouth quicker than you can blink.” This track features some wonderful work on steel guitar. I also like that while this song is called “Worthy Cause,” Chad at first sings “You put up with me for no good cause.” Though of course soon he sings that he is grateful she found him to be a worthy cause. Ah, that is how so many of us feel, I bet. This is a gorgeous love song, and his vocal approach toward the end reminds me of Martin Sexton. “And I’m so grateful somehow you find me useful/Enough to see past my faults/And believe loving me is worthy cause.”

There have understandably been a lot of songs about floods in recent years, and Chad Richard’s song, “Waters Rise,” is a heartfelt and positive number featuring some good lines, such as “Waters rise, but people rise above.” And these are lines to keep in mind through all our troubles: “We all helped each other up/That’s really what it’s all about/And we were closer and so much stronger/When it all finally dried out.” That’s followed by “The Big And The Little Hand,” a song that has really affected me. “Just trying to be a little more than I’d always been/Amen/Well, I traded my dreams for a better wage/Because it seems that’s what we do in this day and age.” Another of this disc’s powerful songs is “12 More Days Of Blue,” this one about trying to raise a kid and being positive while your personal life crumbles, and trying to do what’s best for your child. “And it hurt me to lie/When I said, son, I don’t know why/But there are some things you just don’t tell a kid.” This is a sweet song. The album concludes with “The Game,” a gentle song about being a traveling musician. “I played a brand new song I think some folks liked/So I guess all in all it was a pretty good night.” But the lines about the waiter are the ones that most strongly affect me: “The sad smile she wears makes it easy to see/She ain’t exactly where she hoped she’d be.”

CD Track List

1. Slow Rollin’ State Line
2. Love Anyway
3. German Angel
4. Right Now
5. Worthy Cause
6. Fredericksburg
7. Waters Rise
8. The Big And The Little Hand
9. My Name
10. 12 More Days Of Blue
11. Shawdy And A Shiner
12. The Game

Worthy Cause was released on April 26, 2019.