Traditional country music was to white musicians as the blues were to black musicians. Each based off of simple musical structures and lyrical concepts of heartache and loss, blues and country were effective forums and outlets for the pain of life delivered in a form that allowed others to sympathize. Somewhere along the line, country music evolved into a form of mass-market arena rock that has become hugely popular throughout America. Billy Cross & The High Bridge Band don’t draw any influence from Toby Keith, Rascal Flatts, Keith Urban, etc. Rather, they harken back to Merle Haggard, Stonewall Jackson, and Waylon Jennings. The result isn’t flashy, it’s not polished, it’s not even happy; it’s country in its essence.
Billy Cross has an aged, gravelly voice that sounds perfect for the lyrics that he convincingly delivers. None of the songs are revolutionary in what they bring to the table; most of them are about heartache and loss, two of them about drinking. The lead-off track, “Maybe I Can Let You Go Again” showcases what the album as a whole is going to be like. Cross sings about the desire to interact with his former lover again, for maybe if he were to see her, hold her hand, exchange pleasantries, he could finally get her out of his mind. It’s almost painful (emotionally) to hear Cross bemoan his state and plead hopelessly for that reconnection, showing just how effective his voice is for this song.
As important as Cross’s voice is to making the music compelling to the listener, so too is Robert Hall’s backing musicianship. From the drum tracks on up, no instrument stands out or features more prominently than another. The percussion is kept very simple with just basic rhythms and shuffles played throughout. Hall’s keyboards are also kept simple and largely subdued, playing more for atmosphere and tone than anything else. The only instrument that comes through the mix is the guitar, where all the little licks and flourishes blend in to support Cross’s storytelling whilst still being discernibly enjoyable.
Like the best of country vocalists, Cross is able to carry a range of emotions with a limited vocal range. Just as the sorrow in “Maybe I Can Let You Go Again” is pushed to the forefront of the music, the anger and sincerity in a song like “Conscience” is apparent as well. Cross writes a song here that communicates two different emotions very well, his hope that his former lover will be well and his hopeful anger that her conscience will bother her for the things she’s done. This lyrical dichotomy is about as complex as the songwriting gets, and unfortunately the album doesn’t peak quite as highly as this song again.
As mentioned before, two of the songs deal with alcohol and the potential abuse of it, “Thanks to the Bottle” and “Brand New Friend”. The former is an interesting song that showcases a narrator who either deliberately blames alcohol for the destruction of the things he loves, or is in a state of denial and takes out his own shortcomings by blaming the drink. Either way it’s a subject common to country music and a wonderful change of pace from the glorification alcohol receives in current country music. The latter of the alcohol songs, “Brand New Friend”, is a bit more invigorating of a song in that the lyric is more commonplace; following a break-up, a man goes from having a woman to having drinks.
The ability to make a lyric people can relate to, along with Cross’s voice, are The High Bridge Band’s greatest assets. Because the music is kept simple, it becomes reliant upon Cross to carry the songs, which he does well. The traditional sound though is very bleak and at times, depressing; again, country is very similar to the blues. The sound of I Don’t Want To is going to isolate it to a niche market of consumers who like that old country music. But this is not a hackneyed attempt at recapturing the spirit of yester-year, this is the heart of that music, beating anew.
Somewhere around the middle of their album, Billy Cross and the High Bridge Band perform “Breakin’ Loose”, even though this isn’t the strongest song of the album, it’s the most fitting in a way. I Don’t Want To sounds reserved, but its return to the roots of country is very daring. Cross and Hall obviously love the music their playing despite how much the genre has changed over time. Though it may not sound like they’re breaking loose with such a quaint collection of songs, any diehard country fan who pines for the days of Hank Williams, Marty Robbins, and outlaw country, will find a deep breath of fresh air with this release.
Review by Heath Andrews
