Steve Judice - When Darkness Falls

If there is a “Zen to the art of Songwriting”, Steve Judice is a real master at the craft. His latest CD entitled “When Darkness Falls” is a compilation of some of the most thoughtful, brilliant musical narrative. And the storytelling is first rate. For example, the opening tune, “Rockin’ the Blues Away” (written along with his wife, Kathy) is a lyrical work of genius describing a homecoming queen who was forced to give up her dreams because she became pregnant; or how about “Private Miller’s Momma’s House”, a song which grabs your heart right from the start with a somber account in verse about those who didn’t come home after the war…

“Granny killed the rooster, the day I got home from Nam.
She cooked him up with dirty rice and a mess of candied yams
But I couldn’t think about eatin’, I sat quiet as a mouse
I kept on thinking about the empty chair at Private Miller’s Momma’s house.”

Even though Steve doesn’t always live what he writes about, it doesn’t matter because he feels it. And that’s the thing that really impresses me about his songwriting, Steve Judice’s unique knack for it all comes from the fact that he pays attention to life, he listens to people. Unlike a lot of veteran songwriters I’ve met before, he isn’t full of himself. And this is the one thing that amazes me when I see him at a performance, Steve talks to people, he’s interested in them. And not only does he like all kinds of music, he likes people as well. His sensitivity to other people’s suffering is obvious in the song he wrote about the people who died in the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon. He writes, “…they gave us nothing to bury but his hope for the future…” On the first anniversary of the disaster (in April 2011), a radio station in New Orleans played the song.

The quality of this recording is amazing, especially given he fact that the whole thing was set down at Swamp Studio (Cedar Creek, Texas) in only four days. It proves what can be accomplished when you’re under the gun. Steve’s voice is powerful and sublime. You can hear his passion in these songs. The musicianship is delightful, featuring a wide variety of rhythm, instrumentation and harmony, thanks to the multi-talented Slim Bawb who plays just about every instrument imaginable on this record (resonator guitar, banjo, bass, mandolin, pedal steel, organ, mojo stomp, background vocals). Steve’s acoustic Gibson guitar playing is solid and he put a lot a thought into making arrangements that keep a listener interested.

I think my favorite tune features Barry Hebert on accordion, a song called “Slow Down,” a cheerful little Cajun ditty about appreciating the present moment and living for today. (See, I told you Steve was a Zen Songwriter!) It’s a terrific album and one that I really want to listen to over and over.