Royal Wade Kimes - Strikin’
Matches By: George
Peden, CSO Staff Journalist
“Don’t
let me get this so clean I lose the feel. We took it to heart. I
wanted this record to have every emotion a cowboy, a cowgirl, an
American could feel…lots of feel.” Royal Wade Kimes from his
liner notes.
He’s a real-life
generational throwback to Ozark mountain bank bustin’ bandits.
He’s been a farmhand for Loretta Lynn, and he counts Garth
Brooks as a mate after recording “Night Birds” (a track from
Kimes’ A Dying’ Breed release) with him. While many
wannabes around Nashville strut their stuff under a wide brim and
a fat buckle, hoping to steal fame by singing about what they
don’t know, Kimes has no such pretence. This cowboy has sat tall
in the saddle, seen the vastness of the range, roped and chased
breakaway steers; he’s ridden the trails, taken the falls, in
the truest sense of the term, and survived. He’s real. He’s
country.
Kimes has a now
fast-growing catalogue of seven releases. To each album he brings
a keen honesty and a sharp ability to paint and share lyrics of
hurt and heartache, spirited horses and lonely trails, crooked bad
guys and white hats that save the day. Kimes doesn’t cobble an
album together; rather, his collaborative works comes as keen
stories which keep the listener hooked. It’s a balance that
needs applause and recognition. There are no short cuts of chasing
a potential hit or snagging CMT exposure, Kimes isn’t about the
quick clutch at fame; his style is passionate, caring and focused
– he’s a long hauler, one who loves the journey rather than
the destination.
Kimes, who has
twice won the Academy of Western Artist’s Will Rogers Award,
returns with his latest, and in the minds and ears of a growing
fan base, his best release, Strikin’ Matches (Wonderment
Records).
Stoked with 13
tracks, the album touches emotions, heals hurts, and brings into
play the real need to embrace patriotic values; and, oh, there’s
also the customary appearance of raging bulls and bad dudes with
guns. One of the country music’s emerging lights, Kimes in his
textured and expressive voice shares the cowboy way through
reality-driven glimpses of life, love, and the view atop a hard
saddle.
“Yeah, I’ve
always been a cowboy,” says Kimes in a 2004 interview, “I
don’t remember not wearin’ cowboy boots, and I rodeod for
years. What my music is,” explains the singer who, years back,
spent his first night in Nashville parked in his pickup at
Shoney’s with a shotgun for protective company, “it’s
country with cowboy attitude. I don’t write that tumbleweed
stuff.”
And true to his
word, there’s no filler, fluff or throwaways here. From the
opening homage of “I Come To Dance” (dedicated to Chris Ledoux
& Sheb Wooley), on to the final cut “I’ve Got your
Back”, Kimes delivers with tunes that move you in ways other
than dancing. “Faster Gun”, with its made-for-movin’
shuffle, is so typical of Kimes’ writing style. He cloaks his
story-line around cowboy imagery, but shares the broader simile of
needed preparation to meet life’s obstacles as the subtle
undertone.
Tracks like “No
Use”, ‘Dancin’ With you Again”, Bad Luck Is Gone” and
the sad ache of “Danny Play”, against its somber and moody
trumpet solo, are shades of love sure to touch the thoughtful. For
those who linger on such heart matters, “Strikin’ Matches In
The Rain”, is a co-write with S.Wood. As a losin’ at lovin’
tune, it hits all the right nerves. The well-chosen metaphor of
hoping against hope – striking matches in the rain – comes
fully understood in the lyrics:
“Strikin’
matches in the rain
There never was a
flame, that I could see, oh but I believed,
Strikin’ matches
in the rain, I know it sounds insane,
I guess it was…I
thought it was love…I thought it was love…”
But if you want to
discover the heart of Wade Kimes, move beyond the loss of love,
move beyond the horses, the ghost towns, move beyond the cowboy ;
look for the man – honest, caring and revealing – and you’ll
him in “ I’ve Got your Back”.
“I’ve Got Your
Back”, with its haunting bomp bai du dae dum chorus, is a
crafted tale of a soldier writing from the war zone. Kimes uses
his musical platform not to be overtly political or needlessly
critical. Rather, he draws attention to a greater good – we must
not forget the effort, the interruption to family life, and the
daily fear confronting those who fight the good fight on our
behalf. The letter in the song has the soldier saying “now
we’re hearing things…that can’t be true….” The
soldier’s fears of rejection find answers when Kimes responds
“old Glory’s safe…fire another round…” It’s a good
song. It’s a powerful song. It’s sung by a man who cares.
Wade Kimes wanted
to make an album that had feel. The best compliment I can
give to the man, the music, the album, he succeeded. The best
compliment you can give is to buy it.
Click on the CD cover to order yours!
1: I Come To Dance
2: Faster Gun
3: No Use
4: Strikin’ Matches In The Rain
5: Look Out Your Window
6: Jacob’s Well
7: Dancin’ With You Again
8: The Stranger And Clyde
9: Showdown
10: Bad Luck Is Gone
11: Danny Play
12: Don’t Look Now
Bonus: I’ve Got Your Back
“Don’t
let me get this so clean I lose the feel. We took it to heart. I
wanted this record to have every emotion a cowboy, a cowgirl, an
American could feel…lots of feel.” Royal Wade Kimes from his
liner notes.