Since debuting on his own in the late ’90s, singer-songwriter Tim Easton has released a slew of records and played countless shows all over the globe. Currently in the midst of an extensive tour, his latest album Find Your Way is out May 17 on LP, CD, and digital through Black Mesa Records. It’s a robust set of blues-tinged, country-infused folky Americana that finds Easton in strong voice across ten solid songs.
Prior to releasing his first solo album Special 20 in 1998 (reissued in 2023 by Black Mesa on LP and CD), Tim Easton was part of the Haynes Boys, a Columbus, OH-based Americana outfit that released a pair of 45s and a CDEP spanning back to 1993 plus one self-titled full-length in ’96 (reissued on LP by Re-Vinyl Records in 2015). Haynes was also in Kosher Spears, and fronting the Freelan Barons, he recorded Beat the Band in 2011.
In tandem with Evan Phillips (of The Whipsaws) and Leeroy Stagger (of an extensive solo discography), Easton is also part of the contemporary folk aggregation Easton Stagger Phillips, the trio having cut two albums, One for the Ditch in 2008 and Resolution Road in 2013, both for Blue Rose Records (the Rebeltone label handled the vinyl for Resolution Road).
But now a dozen albums deep, Easton is best known as a solo artist. His latest, produced by Stagger and recorded in Victoria, British Columbia with an all-Canadian backing band that includes Geoff Hicks, Jeremy Holmes, Jeanne Tolmie, Ryland Moranz, and Tyler Lieb, opens with the title track’s strummed acoustic, double bass and snare foundation, soaring pedal steel, a hint of Dylan in Easton’s vocal, and brief injections of fiddle.
“Everything You’re Afraid Of” blends the singer-songwriter sensibility with a touch of heartland rock ’80s style while eschewing worn-out tropes, and “Here for You” is just a little reminiscent of Wilco as the Americana vibes are enhanced by the presence of mandolin. In “Jacqueline,” Easton’s voice is appealingly raspy in a sprightly little number where the fiddle and mandolin add depth.
“Little Brother” is gentle in that manner familiar to ’70s singer-songwriters, but with backing that slowly rises in the scheme, the tune growing increasingly full-bodied as it progresses. “Bangin’ Drum (Inside My Mind)” is an acoustic blues redirect complete with a tidy gust of harmonica that benefits from Easton opting for natural vocal warmth instead of straining for authenticity.
That bluesy edge is retained in “Arkansas Twisted Heart” as it works up a sturdy groove with ample fiddle and banjo and vivid lyrical imagery, this latter element carried over in “Dishwasher’s Blues,” a fine country strummer where the words take a turn for the acerbic. The sustained intensity and gorgeous instrumental shading of “What Will It Take” is a late highlight, and closer “By The End of the Night” combines guitar flourishes recalling ’70s South Texas with Easton’s most soulful singing on the album.
If there’s anything this record might be lacking, it’s a few grittier, tougher textures, though it’s not like the atmospheres Tim Easton offers are sterile. To the contrary, Find Your Way is a rich and heartfelt effort boosted by experience.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
B+
