October 2004
Snakebite is Ridgway’s first disc on his own label, Redfly Records, and his first disc of new material since 1999’s Anatomy. As with his other discs, Holiday in Dirt and Black Diamond, Snakebite is filled with complex stories that deepen with each listen. Ridgway works the way a short-story writer does, allowing small details to reveal what’s most important about his characters. The narrator in "Afghan/Forklift" is "Movin’ crates for exportation…Two were marked Top Secret, headed for Afghanistan." He asks later, "What’s a man to do with all the trouble ‘round today?" In "Talkin’ Wall of Voodoo Blues Pt. 1," Ridgway even brings his sharp eye to his own experiences: "A big manager for Sting/Said ‘sign here, boys, you’ll all be stars.’" Things, of course, didn’t work out that way, but Ridgway has taken more chances musically than fame might have allowed. Snakebite is a work of remarkable depth and variety, completely accessible but too smart for radio. Ridgway’s choice of subject matter and instrumentation is unusual and he doesn’t tie himself down to a particular style. "My Rose Marie (A Soldier’s Tale)," for instance, sounds like an old Appalachian ballad, while other tunes show the influence of surf music, Bo Diddley, and '60s movie soundtracks. As I’ve noted in other SoundStage! reviews of Ridgway’s work, his discs are beautifully recorded -- spacious and lovingly detailed. Snakebite: Blacktop Ballads & Fugitive Songs is full of surprises. It’s the sound of an already essential American artist creating his masterpiece. GO BACK TO: |
Stan Ridgway - Snakebite:
Blacktop Ballads & Fugitive Songs
Stan Ridgway, a student of
unusual behavior, includes a photo of Appalachian snake handlers in the CD booklet for his
new disc, Snakebite: Blacktop Ballads & Fugitive Songs. Snake handlers are
rural Pentecostal Christians who take literally the passage in the Bible from Mark
16:17-18, "And these signs will accompany those who believe…They will pick up
snakes with their hands…." The detail that caught my eye was at the back of the
photo: A member of the worship band, a late middle-aged man calmly watching the snake
handlers in the foreground, is holding a Fender Precision Bass. Ridgway could probably
write a song about that guy and his P-Bass and where they’ve been.