The importance of keeping history alive, in this modern society, is becoming increasingly important, especially in view of the fact that a generous chunk of people all over the world seem to be easily over distracted by media, fake news and anything else that requires more than 10 minutes attention span, forgetting what really matters for our present, past and future.
In this respect, we all are very fortunate that some of us have lived life in a different time of the world, in what some of us may call "bygone era", where human values like "respect" and "preservation" were applied not only to defend the safeguard of the planet, but also the identity, traditions and history of each country.
When it comes to music and how can music help to preserve history, what the American singer-songwriter Hal Cannon is doing, as a solo artist and as a band member of the iconic Desert Rock group called 3Hattrio, is truly special.
Since ever a great fan, historian and supporter of American Wild West Folk music genre (which some may identify as Cowboy Music), Cannon had long wanted to publish a solo record that would allow a music style that has been somehow too quickly forgotten to resurge and been appreciated again for its purity and honesty.
During his studying of the history of the Wild West and the music played around the mid-late 1800 and early-mid 1900 periods, Cannon was very impressed particularly by the songbook of 3 singers, namely Charlie Willis, W.M. (Dick) Devoll and Kenneth Ward Atwood, who may be totally unknown even to those that are keen on Cowboy Folk music, but were nevertheless able to portray, through their songs, a specific time of the Old West era, where lonesome cowboys were singing either to themselves or their horses and even to cattle, while peregrining through American States.
To those three singers, Hal Cannon has decided to dedicate his new solo project called Cowboy Sutra, a record that incorporates 9 tracks, 1 of which is an Hal Cannon original, while the other belong to Atwood, Willis and Devoll's bodies of work, with Cannon solely re-working on said songs' arrangements and lyrics here and there, using his intense singing style as the right platform to convey feelings and moods expressed in the songs' lyrics.
The outcome of Cannon's capillar work made in the making of Cowboy Sutra is spine-tinglingly beautiful and incredibly evocative; armed solely with his powerful, soulful singing voice, a banjo, mandola, guitar and armonium, this amazing American artist brings brilliantly back to life sounds, forgotten places, atmospheres, people's tragic stories and tales of solitude with outstanding class, while distilling, at the same time and in every step of Cowboy Sutra, the right sonic arrangement and vocal tone in order to allow the listener to participate, emotionally, to each of the songs' storytelling.
Moving, otherworldly, nostalgic but, most importantly, an album to embrace, love and to listen to time and time again to best appreciate the amount of work, the amount of attention to details and effort that Hal Cannon has put onto the making of Cowboy Sutra, is staggeringly beautiful.
To say that Cannon's new solo record is pure poetry in motion, is not an exaggeration. You just have to press Play on your stereo to find that out.
Cowboy Sutra is out now and it is available to be purchased through Hal Cannon's Bandcamp Official Page
