{"id":41268,"date":"2008-12-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-12-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/with-to-from\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T11:20:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T11:20:12","slug":"with-to-from","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/with-to-from\/","title":{"rendered":"With, To, From"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI\u2019m gonna be the president \/ The President of the United States of Me.\u201d<\/p>\n

So goes the chorus punchline of the kickoff tune from Geneva, Wisconsin singer-songwriter Jon Troast\u2019s second album of 2008, the by turns cheeky and wistful With, To, From<\/i>.\u00a0 And what could be better summary of Troast\u2019s easy-pleasy knock-you-in-the-back-of-the-head-when-you-weren\u2019t-looking style than a tune (\u201cI Want To Be The President\u201d) that starts out feeling like a familiar complaint about the futility of politics and morphs in the space of a few spare lines into a surprisingly powerful affirmation of purpose.<\/p>\n

The fact that this emotional sleight-of-hand takes place against the backdrop of yet another sweetly catchy melodic hook cinches the deal.\u00a0 Yes, Troast sometimes gives off a strong beers-by-the-campfire Jack Johnson vibe, but the relaxed, breezy feel of many of his songs is just the teaser; the payoff is genuinely thought-provoking lyrics delivered with an effortlessness that ensures the messages never trip over their own earnest intentions.<\/p>\n

This months-later follow-up to Troast\u2019s terrific A Person And A Heart<\/i><\/a> finds him once again working with producer Mitch Dane (Jars Of Clay), who fills out the arrangements with deft touches that lend a variety of colors and tones in support of Troast\u2019s nimble acoustic guitar playing.\u00a0 Nowhere is that truer than on the knockout \u201cWedding Ring,\u201d the true story of how Troast\u2019s mother sold her wedding band so that the family could afford to adopt his sister; the processed keyboard tones on the track sound like the chimes of a child\u2019s music box, adding a fresh layer of poignancy to a song already thick with it.<\/p>\n

A change here from Troast\u2019s last couple of albums is a more explicit focus on spiritual issues.\u00a0 But much like his brother-in-spirit Jon Foreman (Switchfoot), Troast manages to ask thoughtful questions and celebrate \u201cthe mystery of peace\u201d without ever preaching or alienating those who may believe differently than he does.\u00a0 That he can pull this off in the context of songs like the inspirational \u201cPress On\u201d and the searching \u201cDoes God Have A Bleeding Heart?\u201d is no small feat.<\/p>\n

Not that everything here is serious — \u201cOld Way Of Thinking\u201d wraps its message in self-deprecating quips, and \u201cNot This Battle\u201d puts you squarely inside Troast\u2019s mass-media-overstimulated brain — but the overall atmosphere here is noticeably less playful and more purposeful than on Troast\u2019s last two outings.\u00a0 That this album still manages to steadily engage and entertain is a tribute to Troast\u2019s skills and appeal as a storyteller.<\/p>\n

Troast\u2019s modest but loyal national fan base — nurtured by a year-long run of house concerts<\/a> and two full album releases in a matter of months — has already snapped this one up.\u00a0 So what\u2019s your excuse?\u00a0 It\u2019s time to add With, To, From<\/i> to your Christmas list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":29669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7847],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-41268","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-jon-troast","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41268","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\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41268"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}