Redd Volkaert might not look like the kind of guy who could make
\na Telecaster sing; if anything, the burly Canadian looks like
\nsomeone who cut down the tree that his guitar was made from.<\/p>\n
But fans of country music know better. Volkaert has been a
\nmember of Merle Haggard’s band since 1997, and has been one of the
\nmost in-demand session men in Nashville. His second solo CD,
\nNo Stranger To A Tele<\/i>, demonstrates his skill on the
\nsix-string with amazing results.<\/p>\n
At times, this disc has the feel of one of the old instrumental
\nalbums you’d find in your parents’ record collection. (No, that’s
\nnot unhip to say; there were a lot of records my parents had like
\nthis that I still enjoy listening to.) Tracks like “Diminishing
\nFlames” and the title track do have that retro feel to them, and
\nare surprisingly easy to get hooked on. Volkaert nicely manages to
\nput a vintage sound on moder-day recording; it’s like you get the
\nmemories of yesterday without the pops and skips of a record!<\/p>\n
At first, I actually found myself disappointed that
\nNo Stranger To A Tele<\/i> was not strictly an instrumental
\nalbum; Volkaert is such a talented guitarist that he could easily
\ndo an album without vocals and make it a disc you’d want to again
\nthe moment the last song faded out. But Volkaert’s rich bass voice
\nwins out over even the harshest critic, again creating a retro feel
\nto his style of country on songs like “End Of The Line,” “Big Big
\nLove,” “Back To Back” and “Conscience Turn Your Back”.<\/p>\n
What’s more, fun is the name of the game on this disc – and it’s
\neasy to tell that Volkaert was having the time of his life
\nrecording this. Just the way he delivers the final “get out” on
\n“End Of The Line,” you know that even though he says it with
\nseriousness, he meant for the listener to smile the moment he said
\nit. Likewise, the brief comments on songs like “Drewpster” and
\n“Chee-Z” will make you show off your pearly whites.<\/p>\n
Even in the instrumental works, fun is the key ingredient on
\nNo Stranger To A Tele<\/i>. Listen to “T’wango” and feel like
\nyou’re listening to a modern-day rock guitarist before you’re
\npulled back to the heart of the song. It’s incredible what Volkaert
\nallows himself to get away with on this disc – yet it all comes
\ntogether like clockwork.<\/p>\n
Volkaert might not be a household name, but
\nNo Stranger To A Tele<\/i> should be the disc that introduces him
\nto a whole new audience. Well? Don’t be a stranger. Pick this disc
\nup and invite Volkaert in… then hang on to the sides of your
\nchair as he takes you for a wonderful ride.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28096,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7625],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-39490","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-redd-volkaert","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39490"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}