It's About Time
Bud Buckley
(budbuckley.com)
Buckley's debut effort is a sincere set of acoustic folk rock, elevated by mature arrangements and the self-professed late bloomer's weathered vocals. "Can't Leave My Mind," with its quiet swell of strings and classical guitar, is a tender tribute, as is "I Still Remember (How That Feels)," a father's thoughts on the little girl he let go. Elsewhere, images are of Mellencamp-ian Americana, as in the roots-country twang of "The Silence There" and in the album highlight, "Keeping Secrets," its weary lovers "as still as the lake, as still as that old church where the faithful no longer come." 3 stars
This article appears in Mar 12-18, 2008.