Some musical skills, especially the more technical ones, can be taught by a teacher or by a YouTube tutorial. Other are acquired through decades of playing, rehearsals, jams and recording sessions. These might be more subtle, less flashy, but still equally impressive: a unique touch, a balanced composition, a strong confidence that stems not from the cockiness of the young guitar slinger, but from the maturity of the veteran session man.
J. M. Hart has definitely mastered this second set of skills: through his songs you can feel the full weight of a career spanning more than thirty years. Mr Hart sings and plays almost every instrument (with the exception of the drums), and he lays down his tracks with the surgical precision and the relaxed nonchalance of an expert magician who lays down his cards for a very complicated trick while cracking jokes with the crowd and making it look like child's play.
The eight tracks that appear in this "Headwaters" could be labelled as folk rock, definitely leaning towards the softer side of the spectrum. There are some echoes of the Beatles in tracks such as "Marcus Mulcahey", an almost country flavour in the acoustic guitar patterns and in the vocal melodies (take for example the song "Tell Me Your Story"), with a sprinkle of psychedelia here and there when the electric instruments weave themselves into the sonic fabric.
Everything sounds warm and cosy, perfect for a quiet evening in front of the fireplace or for a relaxing road trip (I support the certification!). It evokes red sunsets and placid ocean views, with a thin veil of nostalgia but withought losing brightness.
If this album managed to warm the heart of a die-hard metalhead like myself, I'm sure it will be appreciated by a wide audience. Give it a try.