Songs for the Time Being
Eric Folkerth
Independent
2000
13 tracks
Early in their careers, when they are less confident of their own unique voices, writers and performers may tend to echo the artists who have been their strongest influences. Most will at some point shed the borrowed raiment of their heros and integrate the best influences into an outlook and sound distinctly their own. Some never do shed or integrate their influences. Eric Folkerth is one of those artists who later in his career still wears his influences on his shirtsleeve. This is not a bad thing. Folkerth's work stands up well on its own, but what might he accomplish should he leave his heroes behind and spread his wings in independent lyrical and musical flight?
In the songs of Eric Folkerth, I can hear echoes of Paul Stookey ("I Will Sing" and "Sequoyah"), John Denver ("Song from the Spring"), Buddy Holly ("The Road Goes On" and other songs), Bobby Goldsboro ("Mom Went Bungie Jumping"), James Taylor ("These Rooms" and several other songs), and other artists. Are these Folkerth's actual influences? I don't know, but the echoes are definitely there in his work.
If any song on this release is likely to represent Folkerth's own voice drawing upon but unfettered by the influence of others, it's "The Birches of Moscow" with its tight, evocative lyric and comfortable melody. If this is indeed his true voice, then it's a fine voice indeed, a voice he should allow out more often.
This release could live without (and probably be better without) the two included "children's" songs. "My Brontosaurus Threw a Potluck" and "Mom Went Bungie Jumping" are reasonably well-written songs and are performed as well as any song on this release. However, whether as children's songs or as social commentary [which appears to be Folkerth's intent], these themes have been covered often and more effectively by other artists.
Eric Folkerth is best as a storyteller, but his writing and presentation could be stronger and more effective. The writing is colloquial and even conversational, but in its phrasing much of it still feels more like an academic literary exercise than oral story. The melodies, formal and often almost classical, only serve to add to this literary affect. Folkerth might do well to listen to artists like, say, Harry Chapin or perhaps some of the great songwriter-storytellers of his native Texas. Folkerth is not a bad storyteller, but he would be so much better if he loosened up both his writing and performance.
While I believe that he can become even better than he is now, Eric Folkerth is a fine storyteller in a pop-folk genre ideally suited to middle of the road programming.
Those interested in learning more about Eric Folkerth, his writing and his music will find loads of information at EricFolkerth.com.
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