Music

On the Record: Jaryd Lane’s ‘The Drifter’

by Nick Pittman

Lane's new EP displays his best qualities: earnest and hard-hitting songwriting driven by his dynamic voice.

If you could somehow mash up Alice in Chains’ acoustic Jar of Flies with Elton John’s Tumbleweed Connection, reducing the piano to a minimum-but-present level, eliminating the shared vocal harmonies of the Seattle band and instead drive it home with gut-wrenching, self-reflecting lyrics that are somehow inspired by Bob Seeger and Creedence Clearwater Revival, it would sound a lot like Jaryd Lane’s The Drifter.

The seven-song EP (with two versions of “Mile High”) is a subdued collection of tracks that possess either an early morning or early evening feel. Like Jar of Flies, it is turned-down rock, showcasing the artist’s core. Like Tumbleweed Connection, it has a great sense of place and piano (for John, it was the South and the West, for Lane, it is a motel room at the break of day). Because it is Lane, it is country and blue collar grit without the twang of someone trying to sound blue collar, country and gritty. Most cuts are just Lane’s rich and rugged voice and the fine and simple picking of his acoustic guitar — calling back to his Country Boy Sessions. On some, the added touch of piano lightly coaxes him along as he spills his guts about what’s eating him up.

Sure, some of it is well-trod material — you are the woman who tames this wild man, I want to be strong for you, I’m away from my love — but Lane, with a voice that sounds like a million bucks earned the hard way, does it so well.

“Light Me A Candle” opens the record and is the strongest track. Like CCR’s “As Long As I Can See the Light,” it is a tale of wanting. Unlike CCR, which simply imagined the Delta, Lane seems to have lived this desire to see the lights of home. “Mile High” continues the theme of being gone when all you want to be is home. While “Candle” has the better sound, “Mile High” packs a stronger lyrical punch. For a part of the country that works seven on and seven off — or longer — this one almost hits too close to home. Even for those who don’t, we’ve all been away on a road that only seems to get long by each mile we drive. Lane seems to live on this road. “Don’t Tread on Me” and “The Drifter” show the flip side of that equation. Here, Lane seems to crave the open road, wishing he could be an unattached drifter. Either way, he makes you feel it until it hurts.

Hands down the premier country artist in Acadiana, anything Lane does is welcomed. It’s a different stroke than some of his more lively material. Yet, it is pure Lane as The Drifter displays his best qualities: earnest and hard-hitting songwriting driven by his dynamic voice.