ROBBY BAIER Soul Tube
Soul Tube Records 12+ song CD
Reviewed by Sara Miller
Everything that could cause a guy to sing the blues, SoulTube has: whiskey & women, driving & thinking, guns & hitch-hiking, "Dead End(s)," "Warning Signs," jealousy, and unrequited love. Robby Baier may be from Western Mass, but he has apparently seen a lot more than beautiful Berkshire County. With the band Pearls At Swine, Baier had been signed to a division of BMG but left them in 1997 to pursue his own career. His solo effort is a sultry, swaggering, and sensitive showcase of his musical and lyrical talents.
This disc definitely has its hip-sway sexy moments, rockin' and gritty in some songs ("Room In My Chevy"), smooth and seductive in others ("Seriously"). The rest of the songs, a good number of them ballads, are mainly straightforward stories of hard luck and love over likable blues-rock. As with most blues songs, the lyrics are sometimes predictable, but Baier does have a way with metaphor ("...if there was substance to desire/slightly diluted, I'd heat it and shoot it...").
Most of the album was recorded on an analog 16-track, with Baier playing, recording, and producing nearly everything himself. The result is a homegrown feel, neither city-superficial nor suburban-wannabe. No indie pretension here. Baier's performance is heartfelt without being overly sappy, and accomplished without being Berklee. His music could just as easily fit alongside that of an artist like Me'Shell N'Deg�ocello as it could Bob Dylan's, John Mellencamp's, or The Rolling Stones'.
Baier supported Creedence Clearwater Revisited in Germany last spring, and is now touring on his own. He will be performing at clubs in the northeast throughout fall and winter.
Robby Baier Review
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ROBBY BAIER Soul Tube
Soul Tube Records 12+ song CD
Reviewed by Sara Miller
Everything that could cause a guy to sing the blues, SoulTube has: whiskey & women, driving & thinking, guns & hitch-hiking, "Dead End(s)," "Warning Signs," jealousy, and unrequited love. Robby Baier may be from Western Mass, but he has apparently seen a lot more than beautiful Berkshire County. With the band Pearls At Swine, Baier had been signed to a division of BMG but left them in 1997 to pursue his own career. His solo effort is a sultry, swaggering, and sensitive showcase of his musical and lyrical talents.
This disc definitely has its hip-sway sexy moments, rockin' and gritty in some songs ("Room In My Chevy"), smooth and seductive in others ("Seriously"). The rest of the songs, a good number of them ballads, are mainly straightforward stories of hard luck and love over likable blues-rock. As with most blues songs, the lyrics are sometimes predictable, but Baier does have a way with metaphor ("...if there was substance to desire/slightly diluted, I'd heat it and shoot it...").
Most of the album was recorded on an analog 16-track, with Baier playing, recording, and producing nearly everything himself. The result is a homegrown feel, neither city-superficial nor suburban-wannabe. No indie pretension here. Baier's performance is heartfelt without being overly sappy, and accomplished without being Berklee. His music could just as easily fit alongside that of an artist like Me'Shell N'Deg�ocello as it could Bob Dylan's, John Mellencamp's, or The Rolling Stones'.
Baier supported Creedence Clearwater Revisited in Germany last spring, and is now touring on his own. He will be performing at clubs in the northeast throughout fall and winter.
Soul Tube Records 12+ song CD
Reviewed by Sara Miller
Everything that could cause a guy to sing the blues, SoulTube has: whiskey & women, driving & thinking, guns & hitch-hiking, "Dead End(s)," "Warning Signs," jealousy, and unrequited love. Robby Baier may be from Western Mass, but he has apparently seen a lot more than beautiful Berkshire County. With the band Pearls At Swine, Baier had been signed to a division of BMG but left them in 1997 to pursue his own career. His solo effort is a sultry, swaggering, and sensitive showcase of his musical and lyrical talents.
This disc definitely has its hip-sway sexy moments, rockin' and gritty in some songs ("Room In My Chevy"), smooth and seductive in others ("Seriously"). The rest of the songs, a good number of them ballads, are mainly straightforward stories of hard luck and love over likable blues-rock. As with most blues songs, the lyrics are sometimes predictable, but Baier does have a way with metaphor ("...if there was substance to desire/slightly diluted, I'd heat it and shoot it...").
Most of the album was recorded on an analog 16-track, with Baier playing, recording, and producing nearly everything himself. The result is a homegrown feel, neither city-superficial nor suburban-wannabe. No indie pretension here. Baier's performance is heartfelt without being overly sappy, and accomplished without being Berklee. His music could just as easily fit alongside that of an artist like Me'Shell N'Deg�ocello as it could Bob Dylan's, John Mellencamp's, or The Rolling Stones'.
Baier supported Creedence Clearwater Revisited in Germany last spring, and is now touring on his own. He will be performing at clubs in the northeast throughout fall and winter.
