Somedays the Song Writes You

Guy Clark’s music hasn’t changed much over the past 35 years — which is a good thing. Somedays the Song Writes You finds this master singer/songwriter craftsman in a reflective mood, spinning tales about life and love in his trademark semi-spoken style. The mystery of the creative process is a reoccurring theme here, examined with a knowing eye in “Hemingway’s Whiskey,” “Maybe I Can Paint Over That,” and the title number. “The Guitar” is an eerie slice of Americana that shows off Clark’s deceptively plainspoken narrative skills. True-hearted women (“All She Wants Is You”), stalwart sailors (“Eamon”) and ragged ne’er-do-wells (“The Coat,” “One Way Ticket Down”) are depicted with Clark’s typically sure feel for color and detail. He augments his own material with a tender reading of old friend Townes Van Zandt’s “If I Needed You.” Throughout, the music is firmly in the Texas acoustic country tradition, highlighted by Verlon Thompson’s blade-sharp guitar picking and Kenny Malone’s soft yet firm drums.