Doug Spartz is about hope and good music. <\/p>\n
Spartz is a 64-year-old independent artist who has had two heart attacks and a bout with cancer. Despite these physical setbacks, he continues to create polished, original music and is a rare independent artist who has made appearances on the charts. A country artist with a touch of bluegrass mixed in, Spartz also has forayed into rock, all with strong results.<\/p>\n
The One Who\u2019s Leavin\u2019 <\/i>is a well-done album. The production is crisp and clear and the packaging is of major-label quality. None of this would matter if the song weren’t uniformly strong, however, and fortunately they are, both the covers and Spartz’s originals.<\/p>\n
\u201cRisky World\u201d leads off the album and sets the tone for many of the 19 songs that follow. Excellent vocals and the use of fiddle against a country rock background carry the piece. Other originals include \u201cTombstone Mansion,\u201d which is basic Southern rock again a brass background, with an excellent guitar solo uniting the two halves of the song. \u201cAll Is Well\u201d is a biting commentary on the subject of war told in an uptempo country tune. \u201cThe Flight Of Jesse James\u201d is classic bluegrass country with a steel guitar leading the way, while \u201cPederson & Jesus\u201d is a country anti-gospel song that is clever without being trite. Finally \u201cTalkin\u2019 Americana Blues\u201d is a take off on the old “Talkin\u2019 Vietnam Blues\u201d song but with a lyric change in a humorous biographical direction. <\/p>\n
The cover songs on The One Who\u2019s Leavin\u2019 <\/i>are spottier, keeping this from getting a higher grade. The most interesting is the Glen Campbell song \u201cGalveston.\u201d Spartz takes the song in a rock direction with a dominant drum and bass beat. However, his take on the Beatles’ \u201cGolden Slumbers\u201d is a rare miss, never settling into one style and just nto working. Two Dylan tunes — \u201cRing Them Bells\u201d and \u201cForever Young\u201d — are OK but add nothing new to the originals. <\/p>\n
Yet overall, The One Who\u2019s Leavin\u2019 <\/i>is an excellent album. Many independent artists are trying to define themselves and their music; at 64, Spartz knows who he is and appears comfortable with that fact. He is also smart enough not to exceed his talent or capabilities.<\/p>\n
Doug Spartz ends The One Who\u2019s Leavin\u2019 <\/i>with a humorous rendition of \u201cAll The Young Dudes,\u201d which is about aging and ends with a heart monitor beeping. Given his recent history, this is not only a funny but an ironic finish to a disc that’s well worth seeking out. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":29024,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8063],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-40537","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-doug-spartz","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40537","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\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=40537"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=40537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}