Mark Joseph: “Vegas Motel” (2021) CD Review

Mark Joseph is known for his work in The Big Wu, the great Minnesota jam band, but the singer and guitarist has also released a few solo albums. His latest, Vegas Motel, features all original material, including some character-driven songs and some rather personal compositions. Joining him on this release are Cody McKinney on bass, JT Bates on drums and percussion, Ryan Young on fiddle, Toby Lee Marshall on organ, Jeff Waldeland on pedal steel, Stanley Behrens on alto flute, and Jake Baldwin on trumpet. Steph Devine and Jill Mikelson provide backing vocals.

The album opens with its title track, “The Vegas Motel,” a delightful, easygoing country number about drinking to excess in hopes that it will free him from his troubles and pain. “If the next drink will kill me/We’ll just have to wait and see/But if it takes away your memory/That’s all right by me.” This is certainly a time for drinking songs. Most people I know have been drinking heavily the last several years, ever since things went horribly wrong in 2016, and then of course stepping it up when everything shut down at the beginning of the pandemic. “At the Vegas motel/It’s my living hell.” That’s followed by “Hard Workin’ Man,” which offers a vivid description of a man who works to support his family. “Strong like a tree, his roots are in the ground.” This track features some nice work on fiddle, and has a pleasant vibe that gives you a good feeling. That in turn is followed by another song about a hard-working man, “Nate’s Garage,” this one with a livelier sound. The guy described here has a patriotic bent, and did not graduate from high school, and perhaps it’s my own prejudice, but I can’t help but wonder if those two things are connected. At any rate, you can’t help but like this character, and the song has a cheerful vibe.

“The Life Of A Pipe Welder” begins with some good work on guitar, and is a character-driven song, a portrait of a person who works as a pipe welder while raising a family. “Dry your tears, baby girl, we’re doing fine/I’ve seen better days now, but I don’t complain/Running pipes has kind of kept me sane.” For me, it is that guitar work that stands out and seems to move the story forward. And nearly two minutes in, there is an interesting change. “Through the years and the tears/Remember what matters most/We are living now/No time for ghosts.” There is also some really nice work on flute, and an interesting rhythm. Then just before the end, this track shifts gears, taking on a harder progressive rock sound. That is followed by “Early Riser,” a wonderful instrumental track that has something of a sweet vibe. It does sound like a bright morning, before anyone has come round to spoil it, before the newspaper has been read, before anything has really happened. It is a tune of joy and possibilities, and I absolutely love Ryan Young’s work on fiddle. This is an unexpected highlight of the album.

“I Love You Till I Die” is a gentle and bright love song, with a pretty and soulful folk vibe, and some really sweet work on trumpet too. “And should I pass away into the night/It would be all right/Because I love you till I die.” The lines “But the past is gone/And we’re here right now/And I’m thankful for today” also stand out, for many of us struggle to adopt that very attitude. This song builds in energy toward the end, which works wonderfully. This is another of the album’s highlights. It is followed by another sweet number, “Little Lucy,” a song from a father to a daughter. At a couple of points in the track we hear the laughter of a child. And at one point Mark Joseph sings “Lucy Ruth, don’t you see/Named after Notorious RBG,” lines that stood out for me because my girlfriend has been reading that book, Notorious RBG: The Life And Times Of Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Alex Proctor plays keys on this track, and Jeremy Ylvisaker is on guitar.

The album concludes with a song titled “My Friend, Stella Blue.” I was interested in this track before I first put on the album because “Stella Blue” is one of my personal favorite Grateful Dead songs. I remember once hearing a version so beautiful that I found myself crying. This was at Shoreline, at an otherwise mediocre show. I looked around, and everyone near me was crying too. It was one of those magical moments that I live for. Mark Joseph dedicated this album to the memory of a woman whose nickname was Stella Blue, so obviously this is very personal song. It begins with an instrumental section with an otherworldly vibe, like a sound reaching us from an ethereal plane. A folk sound then emerges, which is in some contrast to that initial sound, having an earthy sense. “If you were here, I know you would sing along/But you’re gone/So I have to find a way to carry on.” Then toward the end, there is another instrumental section, feeling like entering a different realm.

CD Track List

1. The Vegas Motel
2. Hard Workin’ Man
3. Nate’s Garage
4. The Life Of A Pipe Welder
5. Early Riser
6. I Love You Till I Die
7. Little Lucy
8. My Friend, Stella Blue

Vegas Motel was released on November 24, 2021, and is also available on vinyl.