Workbench Songs

For his tenth solo album this expert Texas songwriter who’s been covered by the best (Johnny Cash, Bobby Bare, Jerry Jeff Walker) put his energy into co-writing with friends and associates. His partners freed up the psychic energy necessary for this methodical artist to unlock his creative muse and the result is an idiosyncratic yet universal collection of modern folk tunes that belong less to an era than an old-fashioned state of mind. Whether Clark’s waxing nostalgic over Woody Guthrie and Chuck Berry for “Walkin’ Man” or persuading a woman to board a Greyhound and move with him to Mexico (“Magdalene”), the songs carry with them a stately elegance, reflected in Jaime Hartford’s electric guitar lines, and the soft, purring harmonies that cement the romantic notions. “Out in the Parkin’ Lot” is that perfect snapshot of streetlife people looking for community amongst their drab, makeshift surroundings. Clark tributes his old friend and fallen troubadour Townes Van Zandt with “No Lonesome Tune” and flashes his sense of humor in the "please ignore me" sentiment of “Expose’,” where he offers: “Now when you write your expose’, I wish you’d leave me out.” A master storyteller never wants to relinquish control, after all.