DAvID qUINN: lETTING go album review
David Quinn
Letting Go
Self Released
October 23rd, 2020
Last year David Quinn captured the heart of the Chicago honky tonk scene with his debut full length. Now he returns in this strange and stressful time with a sophomore effort that loses none of the earnest storytelling and honest twang that made Wanderin’ Fool a local country fan favorite. Country music runs deep in the Chicago scene. Whether it’s recognized or not by outsiders, we have a thriving scene right here in the city of big shoulders. There are over fifty acts on Honky Tonk Chicago’s list of artists, which doesn’t even come close to capturing the whole picture.
Letting Go takes from the traditions of Bakersfield and Nashville to make a soup of Chicago country that is as thick as the lake Michigan fog on a spring night. With his extremely talented band in tow, Quinn guides us through cheaters and breakups on “Letting Go,” “Midnightin’ Woman,” and “I Hope I Don’t”; drinking jags and finding peace in letting go with “Thunderbird Wine,” “Born to Lose,” and “Let Me Die with My Boots On”; and the lovely power of the road in “Ride On”, and haunting closer “Maybe I’ll Move out to California.” A shimmering trip through the soul of Country Music itself, full of ghostly steel guitar slides, two step shuffles, and mournful meaning.
Stepping away from the crackle and pop production of his debut, Letting Go sports a clean as a whistle sound that evokes the expansive studio bands of Nashville without falling prey to excess. Yet never loses the soul that pulls it back to Bakersfield in standouts like “Horse” and “1000 Miles”. In an industry that is strung in two distinct directions, Quinn rides the middle with a depth that pulls him toward the Simpsons and Isbells of the world, without the overt political messages that drive many casual country fans away from the true artists of the genre.
However, if you peel back the layers, there is plenty of commentary on modern life. The chorus of “Horse” could very well be skating around letting those downtrodden by society's norms live their life the way they see fit, while “Maybe I’ll Move out to California” is an escapist fantasy that even the most stalwart daydreams on occasion. Or possibly Quinn’s songs are as plain spoken as they appear. A deep and honest portrait of the everyday American experience.
There isn’t anything groundbreaking or earth shattering about David Quinn’s music. It’s the sound of home, the inviting freedom of the open road, the inevitable specter of heartbreak, and our short years from the cradle to the grave.
-live photos by Tina Mead from Bloodshot Records Anniversary Party hosted at Smashed Plastic Press