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Crooked Roads is currently in England. Stay tuned for some UK dates.
(for yet-to-be-released CD# 4)
Songwriter Bio
Crooked Roads CDs: Click each below to listen
Heartbreak Sampler (2006)
Love, Again (2003)
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Singer-songwriter Chris Dingman Photo: Anita Medal
Crooked Roads already taken:
Live Review of our Third Annual Bob Dylan Birthday Tribute
Praise for Crooked Roads CD, Heartbreak Sampler "Superlative lyrical angst and heartbreak... Not an ounce of lyrical fat or filler, just honest sentiments pared down to the bone then scraped away a little more to reveal the universal truths underneath." —Americana-uk.com "The lyrics are a literary tour de force... One of the bright lights of the genre." —Rootstime.be "Strikes the nerve... with absolute authenticity." —Home-of-Rock.de "An emotionally powerful piece." —Highbias.com
"Every melody sticks in your mind." Full Review of Heartbreak Sampler from Americana-uk.com Heartbreak Sampler (8 out of 10 stars) "Superlative lyrical angst and heartbreak." It's rare to come across a songwriter as honest as Chris Dingman (for it is he). “I'm not interested in telling stories, or trying to write from some other character's perspective. I write to explore and express my inner life” Dingman says. That honesty pervades “Heartbreak Sampler”, which is a frank, painful and resigned look at the single life. But it’s an uplifting album, partly in the way that only honestly expressed pain can be, but partly because of the way Dingman has with a melody and the killer lines with which every track is filled.
Take “Too Long”, a gorgeous slice of pop that nails his wistful recognition of what he’s missing and longing for. “Everybody’s looking for their soulmate/But I just wish I had someone to call when I’m running late” sings Dingman in the middle of a list of all the things he’s missing. Or consider “Goddamn Wonderful World”, which ends “Used to wake up beside you/and sometimes you’d bring me coffee in bed/And now I can’t think of nothin’ to say ‘cept what’s already been said.” Or Long White Robe”’s opening verse – “They say an angel’s watching you/all the fucking time/Even when you’re showering/or you’ve had too much wine/It sounds a little creepy/and I don’t think I’m buying/’cuz all the angels I see/never pay me any mind”. Or…well you get the idea. “Heartbreak Sampler” doesn’t have a duff line, not an ounce of lyrical fat or filler, just honest sentiments pared down to the bone, then scraped away a little more to reveal the universal truths underneath.
And then there’s the music. “What if Hank Williams grew up listening to the Beatles?” asks Dingman on his website, and you can see what he means. Plenty of fiddle and pedal steel (but not too much), and simple unembellished arrangements that say all that needs to be said without being pushy. It’s a classic sound, the sound of loneliness, but filtered through a pop sensibility.
Amongst the gloom there is a ray of light. “I used to look for someone/who could reel me in/Now I look in the mirror/and I’m staring right at him” sings Dingman on closing track “New Eyes”. Given the avowedly personal nature of “Heartbreak Sampler” one can only offer an “Amen” to that, and also the hope that he doesn’t lose his muse along the way, because that truly would be a tragedy.
Date review added:
Friday, March 24, 2006
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