From Waynesville, OH, Richard Lynch delights with his newest softhearted release My Guitar Drips Country. Proudly proclaiming that it was inspired by a Facebook conversation with the late Doug Supernaw, this album both serves as a memoriam to a close friend, but also aims to shine a light on better times ahead of us with the classic helpings of country lifestyle, faith, and camaraderie. Starting with the album opener aptly titled “Starting Now”, Lynch recounts the story of a man who’s changed his ways after decades of empty pleasures by turning to the lord. Some might find the religious inclusions not exactly for their liking, and I’d certainly argue to each their own, but Lynch remains respectfully never knocking anyone down of any creed which is a welcome turn and indicative of his overall messages and beliefs.
WEBSITE: https://www.richardlynchband.com/
You get the sense too that beyond material that is deeply personal, such as the ballad of Lynch saying goodbye to his deceased mother on the track “Wait for Me”, Lynch is transforming the mundane everyday-isms of a Country Singer into his own muse, such as the song “Place I Have Never Been” which sees his in conversation with someone who doesn’t believe they’ve led a life close enough to the now rote cliches of Country Music fans to to be able to enjoy it. It’s something that should be celebrated seeing someone so inoffensively respond to criticism and deliver it in an almost meta presentation at points.
The texture of his songs remains fairly basic, your standard guitar, bass, drum setup, but he’s making the most of them expertly certainly evoking the sounds of his icons Conway Twitty and George Strait. I think there will be some who write this album off as being too “cheesy” and while I can certainly understand that thinking, being cheesy doesn’t mean being devoid of honesty or talent which Lynch has plenty of. Lynch is looking backwards as a way for all of us to move forward, looking back at his childhood love of his mothers food and her comfort and love in the song “Cathead Biscuits,” to the everyman idolization of his grandfather with the track “Grandpappy.”
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Lynch isn’t playing a country crooning simpleton either, if anything he comes across as a soothing presence filled with reassurance as he sings on the song “He’ll Make Everything Alright,” which I’m sure you can guess by the title certainly has religious overtones, but Lynch also stresses that we as people need to get it together, love another to brace all kinds of storms and that we’ve been through worse and will only grow stronger. The music is often as comforting as the food he describes in the aforementioned “Cathead Biscuits.” Lynch co-founded the Love Tattoo Foundation which assists Veterans programs, and you know that selflessness and understanding is what has allowed him to have a bevy of optimistic material and it’s something we could use more of overall in the music world, both country and not.
Garth Thomas