Ted Garber Music Reviews

Ted Garber-American Rail

The Ripple Effect

by Pope JTE, The Ripple Effect

The thing that I’ve always liked about the singer/songwriter has always been their ability to strip the music down to its barest form and move the soul with a vibrant array of lyrics. But the lyrics alone don’t do the work. Generally, the voice comes in and conveys the emotion with well phrased lines, slight changes in intonation, subtle nuances that captivate the senses and let the imagination soar. These singer/songwriters have the power of conviction behind their voices and for many years now, I’ve listened to the various works of artists like Jim Croce and Cat Stevens, marveling at their ability to craft a song that sounds as complex as any concerto, but is stripped down to its root.

Enter Ted Garber.

All that stuff about singer/songwriters breaking a song down to its root form still applies, the difference being that he’s filled more of the open space with huge movements of sound to give the music greater life, greater dynamics. The sincerity is still there, almost as if he recorded himself playing an old acoustic on a dilapidated wood porch, and then brought in a handful of talented, and equally soulful musicians to add their own voices. Garber’s voice, though, is the key to American Rail. True, the lyrics are strong and captivating pieces of poetry, but like the great singer/songwriters of the past, it’s the deep down soul and natural conviction to his voice that makes the songs what they are.

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