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Home > Austin Music Source > Archives > 2008 > September > 15 > Entry
CD review: Redd Volkaert’s ‘Reddhead’
Redd Volkaert
‘Reddhead’
(Telehog)
The list of Austin treasures includes Barton Springs Pool, breakfast tacos and Redd Volkaert, all of which one can experience on a Saturday afternoon, when Volkaert puts on a guitar clinic at the Continental Club. Many a budding axeman has traded in his Telecaster for a bass or keyboards after witnessing Merle Haggard’s former lead guitarist play with such dexterity, such tone, such soul. This town was truly blessed when Volkaert and his encyclopedia of hot licks moved here from Nashville in 2000.
The point of his new “Reddhead,” which hits stores Tuesday, might be to show that Volkaert is more than just a guitar player. He writes or co-writes seven of the 14 tracks and his rich, deep voice is featured in the mix, but ultimately the CD comes off as an instrumental album with vocals. Whether he’s exploring western swing on Bob Wills’ “End of the Line” or blues with “Call the Pound” or his caustic relationship ditties (co-written by Laura Durham) such as “Is Anything Alright,” “We Need to Talk” and “Just Because I Don’t Care,” the lyrics seem to serve as spacers between all the spectacular picking. In every genre he tackles, Volkaert can hold his own with anyone.
Those wary of claims that Volkaert is the best guitarist in town should listen to his cover of “The Letter” by the Boxtops. The song is about a man hungry to get home after receiving a love letter and in Volkaert’s solo of frantic percolation you can hear all the determination of movement in the protagonist’s mind. Volkaert isn’t a ripper, he’s a gripper. When he follows that cover with a jazzy country take on Buddy Emmons’ “Raisin’ the Dickens’,” there’s no denying that we’re hearing a master at work.
As a singer, Volkaert is functional, if not a little flat at times. His voice neither astonishes nor gets in the way. But when he ends this CD, his first in four years when you don’t count the recent Heybale release, with a cover of Hag’s “I’ll Break Out Tonight,” the lifelong sideman steps to the front with a flourish. After seven years backing Haggard, the vocal nuances have sunk in. There’s no substitute for seeing Volkaert live, at his Saturday afternoon gig or Sunday nights with Heybale. But if you’re looking for some music to play on the way to the gig, or at home on nights you can’t go out, “Reddhead” will serve you right.
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