| Freedy Johnston |
Country
They just don't make 'em like CAN YOU FLY anymore. Kansas-born Freedy Johnston's breakthrough would have been a rare achievement in any era, but in the sound-obsessed early '90s, his collection of great, timeless songs was completely anomalous. Johnston carried his album on his acoustic guitar, an eye for detail and image, and a potently rocking backing band. His sound was a country-tinged take on mid-American roots rock, but his characters and scenes were the stuff of great turn-of-the century American novels. Imagine Sherwood Anderson's WINESBURG, OHIO as written by the best college bar band on Earth and every English major with a tear in her beer. Songs like "Trying To Tell You I Don't Know," the elegantly sad breakup song, "Tearing Down This Place," and the yokel-in-LA anthem "California Thing" are as touching as classic Hank Williams and as intelligent as Randy Newman at his best. Put plainly, CAN YOU FLY is an American classic more Americans need to know about. Jon Dolan
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