Ry Cavanaugh of 'Session Americana' was 22 when his father, George, a country and honky-tonk singer in the late 1970’s, died of heart failure after several years of struggle with chronic depression and prescription opiate addiction.
In 2019, having reached the age at which his father died (48), Cavanaugh decided to make his first solo album in 20 years.
On this Kickstarter funded project he recovers and documents nine of the songs his Gypsy Dad had written four decades prior.
Songs like Too Tired For Drinking and Help Me Doctor show that his dad was able to confront his health problems with a down-to-earth humor.
|
It's as good a set of acoustic songs as you could hope to hear, beautifully recorded "knee to knee" with guitarist Duke Levine and featuring Jennifer Kimball on harmony vocals. Cavanaugh brings a warmth, simplicity and freshness to tunes which are more folk than country.
This is an elegant labour of love that brings the personal into the public domain to make a fitting family tribute that we can all enjoy.
Ry Cavanaugh's website
|