TAYLOR HARVEY: Everything Hurts

Taylor Harvey has been knocking around the local music scene since the 1990s but got a deservedly elevated profile when the Farmers had him open some shows a quarter-century ago. He continued that relationship when he contributed a hard rock version of “Gun Sale at the Church” for the 2009 Buddy Blue tribute album, Goldmine: The Songs of Buddy Blue, which was fitting in that Blue had been championing Harvey in his music journalism right up until he passed.

Like Blue and the Farmers, Harvey has always had a foot both in the roots and straight-ahead rock worlds—and his sixth album, Everything Hurts, continues that blending.

The first two tracks are slower paced with strong streaks of country through and through.

“Heidi’s Song” opens with a gently strummed acoustic guitar, and then a second joins in behind Harvey’s slowly paced vocal.

The loss of a parent—and the flood of memories, lessons conveyed, and more memories that accompany that process—is relayed with warm tenderness in “Mama Never Told Me.”

On the third song, “Outskirts of Hell,” he and his band turn up the volume and tempo for a full-on rocker. His raspy singing voice is a trait he’s always turned to his advantage, as many (perhaps most) of his songs are about life on the edges. Tales about struggling, about survival, about heartbreak and redemption only gain authenticity when sung by someone with less than a perfectly tuned voice and that certainly holds true here.

“Quit It” is the most up tempo tune here and as close to a pop song as Harvey has ever recorded. It’s a got a great hook at the heart of its melody, and the band runs through it with a tremendous sense of fun and energy.

“Sycamore Canyon Road” is the first of three blues tracks. Lead guitarist Charles Johnson opens the song with a heavily distorted lead that lays out the theme before Harvey’s vocals take over, framed by the rest of the band.

On “Broken Man Blues,” Johnson opens on harmonica alongside guitar, both then underpinning Harvey’s tale of ruthless regret. If any song reflects the dark mood of the cover art, this is it. Even more than the title track, there is little in the lyrics to offer much in the way of hope or redemption.

“Hobo Blues” is more upbeat, at least musically. Amy Brines shares the lead vocals about the loss of a hobo culture to what passes for progress. But Steve Langdon’s banjo and Dobro lines are sunny and keep this song from sinking too deep into the emotional depths some of the other songs do.

The band takes a jaunty, barrelhouse turn on “Make Something Last,” which sounds like a novelty number from the Roaring ’20s. It’s the kind of song Leon Redbone would have loved. (And is that a tuba helping keep time behind Paul Castellanos’ fiddle?)

The rhythm section of John Curtis on keyboards, Jef Kmak on bass, and drummer Gregg Henning provide a firm foundation throughout the 11 tracks—whether it’s a softly percolating dirge or just rocking out like the kids they once were.

Strong songs and solid performances—plus an ever-growing confidence in Harvey’s own vocal performance—make this perhaps his best album yet.