Rusty Tinder opens this album with “Moonlit Kissed,” which has a passionate sound, particularly in the vocal performance, the music somewhere between folk and country, with the surprising addition of trumpet, which ends up working really well. That’s John Fricke on trumpet. Here is a taste of the lyrics: “The wind on your eyes/Like waterfalls at night/Moonlit kissed/It’s gonna be all right.” And toward the end, as the music is at its peak, he repeats “It’s gonna be all right” until we are all believing. That’s followed by “Without You,” which features a cool, catchy bass line, and kicks in to become a cheerful-sounding number, including some good work on mandolin. “Without you/The road goes nowhere,” Rusty Tinder sings in this one. This track has a lively ending with some excellent work on piano. Then in “Tululah,” he sings, “All our luggage/Filled with hopes and dreams/Behind them green eyes/Was a sadness/I couldn’t imagine.” Yet there is a touch of that sadness in his delivery.
The CD case lists “No Longer In The Gray” as the next track, but my disc actually has “Remember Why You’re Here” in that spot. This is a pretty song. As it builds, there is a good amount of joy in the delivery. How could it be otherwise with a line like “La di day la di da”? This track features wonderful stuff on piano. Plus, Julie Pusch joins on fiddle, adding to the sweet and friendly vibe. And Bree Doehring provides some nice backing vocals. This is one of those songs with the ability to unite us and lift us up. That’s followed by “Stay,” which also builds in power, and which also features Julie Pusch on fiddle. “My legs are feeble/My mind a waste/I see your colors/Of black and gray/It seems I’m able/A disgrace/‘Cause I’m going to stay/With you/Anyway.” Then “Alchemy Road,” the title track, has a vibrant sound that seems to scale mountains and to take us with it. “Acting like I know what I’m doing here/The more I think, the more I fear/Wake up slow in this reality.” This song was written by Rusty Tinder and Mike Cionni. It is after the title track that my disc positions “No Longer In The Gray,” a song with a softer opening, drawing us closer. “Inside your sun is burning/Reaching across this plain/A new constellation/For all to see/No longer in the gray.” (I suppose this track makes more sense here, so that it comes after “Stay,” with the lines “I see your colors/Of black and gray.”) In this song, Rusty Tinder also sings, “Gonna wake this planet up/Going to set things right.” It is when I listen to songs like this that I most believe that this is possible. If the energy is there, if the passion is there, as is clear in the music, then why can’t we set things right?
The lines from “On Top Of The World” that stand out for me each time I listen to it are “I want myself again/I want that feeling/Of being/On top of the world.” I think we all want that. Sometimes it seems possible. And I love Rusty Tinder’s honest, earnest vocal delivery. This track also features nice work by Blake English on electric guitar. The song builds toward a beautiful and strong instrumental section. Julie Pusch plays both violin and viola on this one. It is one of my personal favorites. That is followed by “My Name.” Death has been on my mind a lot lately, along with questions of what is left behind, what is remembered, and for how long. Namely, how strong is our impact on those we knew? To me, that is what this song addresses. “When I wake no more/Will you call my name/When the dirt takes my veins/Will you cry my name.” As he repeats “On and on” at the end, we get the sense of a continuation of the spirit or of life. This beautiful song was written by Rusty Tinder and Greg Reeves.
“Infinite Grace” is an instrumental track in which Rusty Tinder plays harmonium and wind chimes, with Mike Cionni on synths and electric guitar. It has dreamlike feel, like standing atop a mountain, over clouds, without fear, and without age. It leads straight into “Let Me Be Found,” which was written by Rusty Tinder and Mike Cionni, and is another of the album’s highlights. These early lines certainly strike a chord with me: “Paralyzed/‘Cause I analyze too much/Keeps me in the west.” The lyrics of this song contain the title of the previous track: “Lift me away/From this carnival of sadness/To infinite grace.” These lines also stand out: “Let silence reveal/The song of the universe/Peel off my skin/Wash away sin and dirt/My heart open wide/To the cosmic sound.” The line about silence reminds me of Hamlet’s last line before his death, “The rest is silence.” While that seemed to indicate a definite end, here silence seems to bring a beginning. The album then concludes with “Copper Penny Sun,” a song about this troubled nation. It seems clear just whom is being referred to in the lines, “Selling lies as the truth/Making money on being ruthless.” Have we learned nothing? It seems to be the case, doesn’t it? This song swells dramatically, leading to the climax, then fades as if to indicate the struggles continue. Julie Pusch is again on violin and viola. Chris Tedesco plays trumpet, flugelhorn, and trombone on this track, while David Silverman is on tuba, and Kahlil Sabbagh is on percussion.
CD Track List
- Moonlit Kissed
- Without You
- Tululah
- Remember Why You’re Here
- Stay
- Alchemy Road
- No Longer In The Gray
- On Top Of The World
- My Name
- Infinite Grace
- Let Me Be Found
- Copper Penny Sun
Alchemy Road was released on July 29, 2022.
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