Search - Vance Gilbert :: Unfamiliar Moon

An amazing talent!

Jessee J. | Cincinnati, Ohio | 02/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm a bit embarrassed to say that I had never heard of Vance Gilbert until I saw him at the Canal Street Tavern in Dayton, OH, where he was opening for Guy Davis. I was blown away by his performance - so much energy, so much vocal talent, and such humor! Naturally, I had to buy a copy of "Unfamiliar Moon" before the night was through.



Vance's voice is as clear as a silver bell, and he uses it to great advantage on this album. Right from the beginning track, "Ten Thousand Skies," you know it'll be a good album. The songs are carefully crafted, and the lyrics are clever and insightful. The title track is especially beautiful and heartbreaking (it made me all weepy when I saw it performed).



Two other tracks that especially stand out are "Leaving Avon" and "The Front Porch Song". Both feature an unexpected angle on a traditional lyrical subject - the first is written from the point of view of a man who must leave his hometown after his affair with a married woman is exposed. The melody is full of a haunting, wistful sadness and resignation, and the lyrics - "farewell to the peach trees...all the fruit will be indifferent to whether I'm there or not come picking time" - hint at a legacy the speaker can barely suffer to leave behind.



In the second song, a woman receives notice that her husband has been killed in the line of duty - but rather than a song of grieving, it is a song of pride in her husband and in her son, who she knows will also "go off to fight," but it is not without a touch of irony.



Given the context of the other very haunting songs on this album, "I've Got a Plane," a very folk-singer anti-war number, seems a little out of place, but its levity and tongue-in-cheek vocal performance is not unwelcome. One has to settle down quickly, though, to appreciate the final track, which is a much more serious look at our war-torn world.



This may be the first Vance Gilbert album I've bought, but it certainly won't be the last."

Vance Does it again!

Derek J. Taylor | Newmarket NH | 02/12/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Just saw the show and bought the CD... as good as all of his other stuff, with the exception of Shaking off Gravity... the only flaw is that it does not truly convey the rawness and vigor of a live Vance show."

Vance Gilbert is awesome

Timothy Regan | 06/14/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have all Vance's albums and love every one. He sings to the passions and pains of all of us with a voice that enthralls your soul. Unfamiliar moon is another amazing experience fit for the home, car and workplace. Listening is good, but live Vance is even better!! Very funny, approachable, and resounding power in song and guitar... Have fun with this one."