momo's | real. live. music

author: Ray Wyssmann

Red Dog Blues is not the music of a guy settling in. Sure, it bears the mark of the albums that came before. But it is also a record of how Michael Fracasso’s songwriting and performance have progressed. With the aid of producer David Hamburger and arranger Beaumont La Grange, Michael explores swing rhythms, and deeper roots song structures and harmonies. Stretching out from his usual excellent guitar playing to sitting at the piano on some songs, Michael purposely forces himself in new musical directions. The good news: it sounds great! Art is often more about how it feels than what it is. Lyrically, most of these songs seem to explore feelings of loss. Maybe Red Dog Blues is just another cute song about a dead dog. Maybe it’s about feelings of helplessness and loss as we see our loved ones fading. Life can feel like a hurricane tearing things we hold most dear away from us. That’s what I get out of it anyway. But enough of the head trip. The best reason to buy Red Dog Blues is visceral. It is a beautiful album of music. The song samples are right there. You don’t need some big music label spoon feeding you this stuff. The quality of the work speaks for itself. What else do you need?