Pony Bradshaw (from the album Thus Spoke the Fool

Pony Bradshaw (from the album Thus Spoke the Fool

Pony Bradshaw (from the album Thus Spoke the Fool available on Black Mountain Music (by Lee Zimmerman)
 
One thing ought to be made clear at the outset. The title aside, there’s nothing foolish about any of the music or the sentiments it conveys on this latest offering from Pony Bradshaw. They’re offered with honesty and authority, gleaned from lessons learned as an army brat whose family moved about while he was coming of age. Consequently, Thus Spoke the Fool makes a formidable impression with stoic statements that resonate through earnest intent.
 
For the most part, the ten tracks that make up this LP come across as descriptive narratives, each setting a specific scene while providing the perspectives of individuals who have observed much and learned even more. Consequently, the slow paced “Viva Appalachia” doesn’t deny the defiant attitude that seems to permeate the proceedings. So too, the plaintive approach given “Rebel,” an ode to a wayward father, suggests Bradshaw is also determined to maintain his own outlaw stance.
 
‘Daddy, when I grow up
I want to paint my portrait true
Daddy when I grow up
I want to be a rebel like you’
 
So too, as the dark and didactic “Hiwassee Lament”, the rugged “In the Cinnamon Glow”, and the assertive strains of “Young Eudora” clearly suggest, these songs are mostly cautionary tales that come across as  both honest and exacting. That’s not to say Bradshaw isn’t an agreeable sort; the down-home designs of “By Jeremiah’s Vision”, the steady ramble of “The Long Man”, and the easy, amiable “Housebroke” reflect his otherwise unassuming stance. Granted, there’s no mistaking his clarity and conviction, but at the same time he manages to avoid any actual hint of real preaching or pontificating. He simply reflects on what he’s observed, and, in so doing, the conclusions become clear. No fool he; Pony Bradshaw clearly knows of what he speaks. (by Lee Zimmerman)
 
Listen and buy the music of Pony Bradshaw from AMAZON
 
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