Broken Promises

Description

.com It’s often said that rock critics are frustrated musicians, but it seems the phenomena isn’t restricted to music scribes since Rolling Stone photographer Mark Seliger confessed to Jakob Dylan during a shoot for the august magazine that he wrote and sang alt country tunes during his off hours. The young Dylan offered up his own studio, starting Seliger on a year and a half long process, which ended with the release of Broken Promises, a very credible alt country album that recalls some of the best work of Pure Prairie League and early Poco--but with a darker cast. Seliger recruited a few more of his musical pals, like Gillian Welch, Willie Nelson, Lenny Kravitz, and Meshell N' Degeocello to provide musical and moral support, but the disc is much more than the sum of its stellar parts. Seliger shows he has a strong lyrical sense, and can infuse even the most banal aside with a southern gothic twist, his voice; a mournful, fretful presence that conjures up the baleful winds of the West Texas plains where he was born. --Jaan Uhelszki