Bright Leaf Blues Review from Eugene Chadbourne
Bright Leaf Blues Review from Sing Out! ~ Summer 2005, Vol. 49 #2
North Carolina songwriters sing of swing, Indedpendent ~ The Triangle's Weekly, Wed 7/13/05
Bright Leaf Blues Review from Rapid River Art Magazine ~ April 2005, Vol. 8, #8
1/7/2008
"The Chestnut Tree"
Flyin' Cloud Records
4 Stars
Bruce Piephoff's latest, "The Chestnut Tree," has the easy, unaffected charm of someone comfortable in his own skin, and it makes for a sound both affecting and unpretentious. It's a record that bespeaks a fair amount of life and music behind it. This is his 16th album of original material and another solid outing.
Piephoff is a Greensboro resident, and more than a few listeners may be familiar with the shifting folk strains of his original songs. But newcomers will find plenty to like in the subtle depth and surprising variety of "The Chestnut Tree." The sound ranges from the haunting blend of finger-picked steel string guitar and cello on "Notes From Knoxville" to the bluesy honk of "Tator Town Tammy" to the gentle country lyric "Jasper's World of No Return." There are even spoken-word poems/tales that betray Piephoff's writer's heart.
The overall effect is made cohesive by the record's light and airy production and the relaxed timbre of Piephoff's voice. Speaking of which, though he gets occasional help on vocals, Piephoff's unassuming voice, ringing with wit and unassuming sincerity, steals the show.
The varied character portraits and confessions assembled here show Piephoff's love of the story and the storyteller. From the world-weary drifter of "Ralph" ("Spent all my time learning the tricks of the trade / instead of the trade itself but I still had it made") to the death row inmate of "Jasper's World of No Return" ("…it ain't no use to cry / there but for fortune go you and I"), he spins tales with an assured cadence that is graceful and halting by turns.
"The Chestnut Tree" is set for release later in January. For newcomers it's a great introduction to Piephoff's work; for fans it's a worthy chapter in Piephoff's ongoing musical journey.
Contact Daniel McMillan at soundadvice.daniel@gmail.com.
Jan 3, 2008
Greensboro News & Record Go Triad section,
Greensboro, NC
12/13/2005
Piephoff prepares to introduce a new cast of fools, dreamers and good people
The white Christmas lights twinkle on Elm Street. Shoppers drift up and down the sidewalks and a block away a drum corps makes cacophonous music. And inside a brightly lit art gallery singer-songwriter Bruce Piephoff plays a song called “Hard Times For Dreamers” for a crowd of three.
It’s the title track of Piephoff’s 2003 album. To be fair, it’s six o’clock on a Friday night, still a little early for most.
“See what a big draw I am in Greensboro?” he says. “People are afraid to cross the railroad tracks, but I’m not.” Later, he adds: “Well, I’ll play the same regardless.”
Piephoff talks between his songs in an intimate,conversational manner grounded in both the circumstances of the gig and the raw material of the songs.started to fill. Some of the 30 or so people in the audience appear to be old fans, some Christmas shoppers examining colorful pots.
A photographer couple tells of their devotion to Piephoff. “We drove by and we saw one guy in here, so we said, ‘Uh oh, we’ve got to get in there,” Anthony Smith says, “By the time we got parked and got in, there was a crowd.”
Elizabeth Larson, who recently moved to Greensboro from Virginia, adds: “One time I bought six of his CDs. He said, ‘Thanks, you paid my electrical bill for the month.’ I definitely know what that’s like.”
As the proprietor of Two Art Chicks, some friends and the occasional customer sip red wine and listen while the cheese platter remains undisturbed, Piephoff picks out the quiet melody on a capoed guitar and blows into a harmonica. Then the longhaired 56-year-old folksinger, who played basketball for Grimsley High School back in the mid-’60s, sings a song that is every bit Greensboro but seems strangely removed from the gloss of New York-style discos and glowing talk about the promise of regional economic development plans, the talk about transportation and logistics as the future.
The song mentions the “old shuttle looms… replaced by the faster air jet looms,” the “cheap imports from Asia” that “only spell our doom,” and the North American Free Trade Agreement. The quiet shame of a family trying to adjust to textile industry layoffs emerges in poignant relief.
“Now Christmas is coming and there’s no toys under the tree,” he sings. “Well there ain’t even a tree; we could still be happy/ Gonna make it up to Danville, they got a little work/ To get us through the winter and keep from going berserk.”
Earlier in the week he’d sat at a table at Tate Street Coffee and talked about a song he wrote, “Twenty Miles From Baghdad,” about a lonely American soldier taking shrapnel in his leg in a surreal landscape of heat, sand and destruction. The song charted on national folk music radio in 2004. At first audience approval was about 50 percent; now, he says, positive reaction outweighs negative roughly 4 to 1. Piephoff sprinkles conversation with references to the war and local events as he drives home a point about unpleasant subjects and historical memory.
“It seems like Greensboro has the best and the worst,” he says. “We produced Edward R. Murrow and the Klan. Some audiences don’t want to be reminded of history, but you need to be, or you keep repeating it. When this Iraq thing started I just saw so many parallels with Vietnam.”
Piephoff’s 14th album — part of a prolific recorded body of original songs that began in 1988 — comes out early next year. More lively than this year’s stripped down Bright Leaf Blues, it features a stellar lineup of local guest musicians who might not be household names even in the Greensboro bar scene. The lineup of the new album, titled Fools Get Away With the Impossible, includes Sam Frazier on lead guitar, Reneé Mendoza of Filthybird on guest vocals, Polecat Creek player Laurelyn Dossett on harmony vocals, multi-instrumentalist Scott Manring, bass player Chris Micca, drummer Scotty Irving and 12-string guitar player Dakota Joe.
Piephoff’s 20-year-old son David is responsible for the cover artwork for the new album. The painting of bar patrons rendered grotesque and suffering shows a welter of humanity; some of the barflies argue passionately while others nod off at the bar. Piephoff says his son’s painting is based on the album’s third track, “Maybe In Time.” It’s a story about two reunited friends, one who has just returned from Iraq and one just released from rehab.
Piephoff’s songs create a panorama of humanity, a set of characters drawn to reveal imperfections, yearning, humor and resilience. There’s a song Piephoff introduces as “about one of my brothers in law who shall go unnamed”: “He got drunk at the David Allen Coe show and all the motels were closed/ When the state trooper told him to blow he said no/ So he’s calling me collect at half past three from the county jail.”
Then there’s the more tenderly evoked account of the group of Latino immigrants working the farms up and down the Atlantic seaboard in “Riding the Stream.” Piephoff sings: “The pain of the lonely so far from Mexico/ Lonely ’cause no one speaks the language that we know/ We work for the coastal farmer and he hides us away/ ’Cause with illegal status they won’t let you stay.”
Piephoff’s songs are populated by the “fools” who “get away with everything,” because, as the song says, “they’re the only ones who’ll try.” Most of them swim against the prevailing currents without much hope of beating the odds. That spirit is most apparent in “That Don’t Stop the Train,” a song on Hard Times For Dreamers.
“Like Eudora Welty singing a John Prine song,” he sings. “Like standing on a mountaintop huffing on a bong/ Like drawing cartoons in algebra class/ Like telling a bully to kiss your ass.” Then the kicker: “Some people value freedom more than fortune or fame/ Dogs bark, snakes hiss, but that don’t stop the train.”
To comment on this story, e-mail Jordan Green at jordan@yesweekly.com.
Bruce Piephoff
Bright Leaf Blues
Quote: "Not so unlike a Kerouac novel, Piephoff’s delicate acoustic melodies power that something inside that inspires in the direction of surrendering all belonging to hit the road and truly feel life."
By Genevieve Will
If Leanne Blake Pizio’s dazzling artwork on Bruce Piephoff’s album doesn’t manage to catch your eye, you certainly should give his blues a chance to hit your ear. Uplifting but not cheesy, Bright Leaf Blues introduces blues that are about more than getting down and mourning those troubles. Furthermore, Piephoff not only has a down-home rasp good for feeling bad, but backs it up with a bit of the most successful non-traditional blues guitar picking around. This North Carolinian administers a strong-willed story with a demure selfless nature about him that commands your attention, and perhaps a live show is in order as well.
Whether Piephoff’s sonic environments entertain your interest, rarely so modest an album makes you want more to kill the Rockefellers. Not so unlike a Kerouac novel, Piephoff’s delicate acoustic melodies power that something inside that inspires in the direction of surrendering all belonging to hit the road and truly feel life. “Here I’ve Lived” exhibits itself as a prime example of such, flashing magnifying glass hints about himself without the blah-songwriter ‘poor me’s.’ So triumphant is he in relating settings seemingly unrelated to his own life, I was forced to restrain myself from inquiring how he might know my life so well. Although he slyly slips pieces of himself – “Moonpie and Pepsi,” ahem – into a few tracks, he’s king of the hill for another reason: his insane insight into others’ lives and troubles.
For just an acoustic guitar and the occasional harmonica, Piephoff performs an outstanding display of intricate guitar melodies layered with truly well-tinted audio milieus. Bleak, like “Streets of Queens,” told “Hotel California” style, or sunny, his blues are always tell-it-like-it-is. With lines like “I’ve felt a dying man’s forgiveness,” Piephoff embraces an ordinary occurrence, but makes it a thing that belongs simultaneously both to everyone and him alone. Although he lacks a bit of instrumental variance over 24 tracks, how can you ignore “I’ve slept with silent angels, I’ve wrestled with the dark”? Check out this On the Road psychic.
Bruce Piephoff
Hard Times for Dreamers
Flying Cloud Records FC-040
I don't think I've ever received an album for review that has generated as much respect for an artist as this one does. Bruce Piephoff shows a mastery of folk here that anyone in the world would envy. He knows exactly how it relates to blues. He knows that a folk artist should never hesitate to express the most educated thoughts and sophisticated sentiments with contractions and colloquialisms. He knows what to do with memories, and that Richard Petty is an authentic, current hero.
It is difficult to convey the real texture and quality of this album in a brief text piece. One might get a better introduction to Piephoff and his newest release by visiting www.flyincloudrecords.com , and I hope you will do so. In the space allotted here, I can only express admiration and suggest that, because one enters so wholly into Bruce Piephoff's world while listening to this CD, he is a great artist. One agrees with the title track that these are "Hard Times for Dreamers." One wonders what went through the mind of Brother "Daryl" that day they found him in the old oak tree. You see the morale-lifting and earthy virtue gained when you "Sign Behind the Plow," and so on through a dozen vignettes that rank beside the finest Southern fiction for welcoming visitors to our region.
Artist: Bruce Piephoff
CD: Slaughterhouse (Flyin’ Cloud Records)
Home: Greensboro, North Carolina
Style: Singer/Songwriter
Quote: "Think Johnny Cash with a Dylan delivery".
By Jennifer Layton
What I liked most about this poet/storyteller/songwriter was how his laid-back drawl sounds just as appropriate singing about New York City as it does the small towns of North Carolina.
Slaughterhouse is Piephoff’s tenth CD, and it’s impossible to walk away from. Think Johnny Cash with a Dylan delivery. Add a Ph.D. in literature. I don’t know if Piephoff has that degree, but I felt quite cultured after hearing “Dante and Villon,” the guitar and harmonica tale of the two artist exiles in a bar, drinking to poets and outlaws who died to be free.
Piephoff’s music is homey, bluesy, front-porch atmosphere music, even when he’s singing about the city. And his poetry is just plain, honest talk with a great way of dropping you right into different surroundings. “45-41-40 Street” is a one-minute travel diary of his chaotic arrival in NYC. I love his description of Joe, the King of NYC, who crosses busy streets, parting traffic like Moses in the Red Sea. The image contrasts perfectly with the colorful character of “When Terry Barry Ran For Mayor,” who is king of his own little world.
He sings of migrant workers and hypocrites. (“To walk out of darkness, you wouldn’t cross the street,” he accuses sharply in “Refuge From The Rain.”) He muses of writing and country folks and the blues. He’s also slyly funny on occasion. Put this on the stereo, close your eyes, and do a little travelling with him.
Bruce Piephoff
(FC-037)
Flyin' Cloud Records
168 Glen Ridge Rd.
Eden, N.C. 27288 (336) 623-9218
A review for the Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange
By Bruce E. Baker
(bbaker38@bellsouth.net)
Listening to Bruce Piephoff's latest CD, Fringeland, I realize that the one thing that still surprises me about this musician is his versatility. Some things, of course, remain the same from one recording to the next (eight before this, if I count right). Piephoff's smooth, rich voice, never harsh but never wispy, that's always present. Likewise the smooth roll of the guitar, part Blind Boy Fuller and part Mississippi John Hurt. He's found a style that works, and within this style, Piephoff crafts songs that are as distinct from one another as they are subtly different from the work of any other singer-songwriter I've heard. And, he always pulls together a talented bunch of friends to back up his songs.
The first thing that will get your attention are the light-hearted songs like Christmas at the Laundromat. Some of the humor takes a wry look at the life of the musician: Big in Slovenia and One More Night at the Travelodge. Once you finish a grin at a good line, you start listening to the other songs and realize that Piephoff is, first, a writer. He evokes a scene with a spare use of detail, and then the sound carries you right to the street he's looking at. The streets are usually those of his native Greensboro, North Carolina, or the other Southern cities he plays in regularly. And Piephoff puts some real people on those streets. A lot of them are lonely and some are desperate, but they are all believable. Some of these scenes are evoked not in song, but in wonderful prose poems backed by wandering guitar riffs, somewhere between Beat poetry and talking blues.
Phil's Song is a song about Phil Ochs every bit as good as anything he could have ever written himself. Piephoff's respect for Ochs is hardly coincidental, for Piephoff is not afraid of the challenges of a topical song, like Any Father's Son about the murder of Matthew Shepherd in Wyoming. Here Piephoff's style changes again, recounting the story scene by scene in stark lines much like a broadside ballad from a century ago. On the lighter side, Piephoff throws in some blues romps like Long White Cadillac that mix timeworn structures and rhymes with elements new and distinctive.
Many is the good songwriter who succumbs to the temptations of the multitrack studio, but Piephoff's arrangements avoid this pitfall. They center on his acoustic guitar work but benefit from Scott Manring's dobro, Doug Rorrer's and Wayne Seymour's lead guitar, and contributions by a handful of others to vary the arrangements nicely to suit the songs.
Bruce Piephoff is one of the rare performers who realizes that songwriting is a gift, not a right. And his gift is our good fortune.
Bruce Piephoff gig in Asheville, NC
Reviewed by James Cassara 5/2/02 in Rapid River magazine, Asheville, NC
Bruce Piephoff - Slaughterhouse - Flyin' Cloud Records
On his tenth self produced and distributed album, Bruce Piephoff has upped the ante a bit. Ever the folk purist, Piephoff has this time surrounded himself with a tremendous cast of support musicians, resulting in his finest and most satisfying collection yet. A virtuoso songwriter and performer Piephoff has always understood the wisdom in keeping it simple, telling stories of decent people, in good times and bad, whose stories are interesting enough to warrant telling. More contemporary sounding than his previous efforts <Slaughterhouse> sits squarely in the new millennium, as apropos for the coffee houses of Greenwich Village as the front porches of any town America.
"The Flood" tells the story of hurricane Floyd, and its devastating effects on our state, set to phrasing not unlike Dlylan's own apocalyptic warnings. In fact, his Bobness casts an influential specter on much of this album, with "Old Houses, Old Cars" being wry and ingenious reworking of "Everthing is Broken". Sandwiched between these bookends are eighteen songs of misfortune, reawakening, love, and the wistfulness of everyday wonderment. In short, the very essence of life in all its multifarious permutations.
I've championed this Greensboro based writer/poet/singer before, and will continue to do so as long as he keeps releasing albums of this quality. <Slaughterhouse> is Piephoff's most rewarding effort yet, an affirmation of those everyday lives wrought with triumph and tragedy and those with the desire and talent to chronicle them.
It’s become cliché to compare acoustic singer/songwriters to those that came before them. Every few years, some earnest musician with a guitar and harmonica will have “The New Dylan” stamped on his or her forehead, and then have to live up to what that implies. Bruce Piephoff may not be up to this lofty comparison, but on his latest CD Slaughterhouse, the influence of his folk predecessors undoubtedly shines through nevertheless.
This disc, his 10th, is made up of numerous (about 20) songs and poems, all composed and performed by Piephoff himself. Although many of the songs feature background vocals, harmonica, upright bass, and accordion, the songs are presented with Piephoff’s singing and guitar playing up front in the mix. This is folk music, pure and simple, and the songs bear the obvious influence of Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, among others. The lyrics are thick and descriptive, and are a mix of real life narrative as well as poetic verse. The words are well placed, and lack the manic stream of consciousness of some folk lyrics. There aren’t any melodies that really grab you, and his singing exhibits the talky/storytelling style used by numerous folk musicians. The production (by Piephoff and Doug Rorrer) is simple and uncluttered – he’s telling stories with these songs, and wants to make sure you can hear every word and note.
My only real quibble with this collection is that the songs never speed up beyond a basic, folksy stroll, and this makes many of the songs indistinguishable from one another. With this many tracks on his CD, there could be wider variety in tempo and style to make each track stand out more. Fans of both old and contemporary folk music will love this release, as the songs are solid and the production is direct. Piephoff is probably not going to be heralded as “The Next Dylan”, but that’s fine. It’s too much to live up to for just about any singer/songwriter. He seems happy and comfortable in the niche he’s carved out for himself, and that is all that matters in the end.
Slaughterhouse review by Sing Out! Magazine, an international folk music publication.
Bruce Piephoff, Slaughterhouse, (Flyin' Cloud 038)
Prolific North Carolina singer-songwriter and poet Piephoff turns in another generous set (over 70 minutes) of country-blues-folk songs and spoken word pieces. Known for his warm, soft-spoken voice, front-porch acoustic arrangements, and finely wrought lyrics, Piephoff is a true folk storyteller who sustains tradition while helping it continue to grow -- Richard Middleton
Sing Out! Magazine, Vol 46 #2, Summer 2002
Review by Richard Middleton
Bruce Piephoff,
Slaughterhouse
(Flyin' Cloud, 2002)
I was unfamiliar with the music of folksinger Bruce Piephoff, so I wasn't sure what to expect from his new CD Slaughterhouse. Well, I have to tell you, I'm pretty pleased with what I've heard.
Piephoff, a full-time musician and poet since 1986, has put together a great little album that he wrote on a trip to Manhattan in July 2001, showing the listener another side of New York using the folk medium -- something that is usually done through hip hop or jazz.
I'm not sure, really, what I enjoyed more about the album: Bruce's poetic expression, laced with touching images and prose, or the beautiful use of guitars, harmonica, fiddle and accordion.
With 20 tracks, including spoken pieces, there is something for nearly every folk lover. This is definitely a must for folk collectors.
[ by Charlie Gebetsberger ]
Rambles: 7 June 2002
by Eugene Chadbourne
It is no secret that North America is full of great folk songwriters, with the well-established big names greatly outnumbered by so-called local artists whose performances within particular regions have garnered them loyal followings of one sort or another. Bruce Piephoff has been recording and performing, mostly out of Greensboro, NC, for several decades. While there was always a standard of quality to his work, his songwriting as well as production expertise just seems to be getting better and better.
This may just be his best, a generous and indeed walloping serving of his material. There are 20 songs here, only a few of them less than full-length ditties. The disc's title is just as much North Carolina as many of the other references; after all, this is the state with the pork industry that pollutes river, lake, and ocean alike and the chicken processing plant whose workers were burned alive because the fire exit door was chained shut. "They've Turned out the Light at the End of the Tunnel" would be the song one might reach for when faced with such calamities, and it's one of this songwriter's best, laced with a droll point of view that is a pretty good defense against depression.
Piephoff's musicianship, including guitar strumming and harmonica, works perfectly for these songs. He gets excellent backup from players such as Scott Manring on a variety of strings, including National Steel guitar and fiddler Kirk Sutphin. While the first moments of the record evoke Bob Dylan, Piephoff soon goes his own way, effortlessly bringing to mind many roots influences from country and blues manifestations.
The light vocal harmonies with singer and keyboardist Claire Holley give some of the songs an unusual appeal. While he sings about many subjects, he reserves the folk artist's right to get downright regional and pretty specific: "When Terry Barry Ran for Mayor" is a real slice of Greensboro life based on the exploits of a local eccentric. While some listeners may assume this means the material is aimed at a limited audience, in reality it means this a songwriter who is really doing his job. Of particular note is the relationship between his voice and his lyrics. He manages a sense of relaxation with the former which is of constant benefit in a genre where some performers simply try too hard. With his lyrics he shifts from the obscure to the clear, from telling to hinting, all with an admirably natural grace.
Hard Times for Dreamers is a great set of story-songs that are worth a close listen. Bruce Piephoff has written a collection of works here that give us a snapshot of social history in the new millennium.
The title track could be a crossover hit if it got the airplay or was picked up by a star name. Looking at the changes in economic circumstances and the effects on real people, it is a poignant reminder of life. With lines like "I've been chasing after shadows from the cradle to the hearse," he takes his place among the top lyricists of the genre.
"Brother Daryl went crazy, I went to Tennessee" is the great hook opening the track called "Daryl." The song delivers well on the promise of those words in a tale of brotherly love, which is tested by the illness of one of them. As he sings "some folks sit in judgement some sit on skid row."
"That Don't Stop the Train" is a song in that old tradition of collecting a series of clichŽs and, by setting them in order and to music, the performer can become an urban philosopher. We are all hypnotised by words and familiar phrases. Add that lovely harmonica intro and you have a fabulous song.
Just as we lie back into a CD that we see as a series of songs that seem to fit a pattern, Piephoff jolts us with a song that seems to buck the trend but turns out to be one of the gems of this great CD. "Great White's Flight" takes us into the sea and the world of ecology as he sings with genuine feeling about the sea creatures "great creatures in the house of God do glide."
Then we are back in the land of nostalgia with "Fat Chalk Cat" as he recalls his childhood and the drifters and life in earlier times with "hobos who would linger round the fire with the songs they sang." We get our useful dose folklore from the title. This was the drawing made on the sidewalk outside the house to indicate that a house was home to someone who would help a passing hobo. There is a tingly ghost story ending to the tale.
"Burgundy Buick" is a spoken-word piece that sounds just right in the middle of the CD. "Gil Barber's Blues" is a personal favourite, with driving guitar and a story to hold the attention. It reminds me of the protest and social comment songs of Kristofferson. "Why did Gil Barber die, who shot him down and why?" I would love to know if this is a generic tale or if was there a Gil Barber. Sadly, Bruce does not provide background to the songs.
After the trip to the ocean we are back on dry land with a thud for "Sing Behind the Plow." This is another top-class track that could take off with the required exposure. Bruce shows his diversity of styles again with "Myrtle Beach Rag," a short guitar piece that gets the toes tapping and brings a satisfied smile to the lips.
This 12-track CD is one of those albums that may be difficult to find but it is well worth the effort. The tracks might not be given national airplay and a big name might not decide to cover them. Then you will be the loser because you will not have heard the excellent writing and production on Hard Times for Dreamers.
- Rambles
written by Nicky Rossiter
published 3 May 2003
Good People Review
Bruce Piephoff is a singer-songwriter who is a credit to the profession. His lyrics are well crafted and arrangements make the message all the easier to accept. His subject matter ranges free and wide and never bores.
Opening with a lovely mythical land of "El Dorado" where there has "never been a war," he brings us on a journey through his imagination. Everyone has stayed at some time or other in a place where you could hear "Through Thin Hotel Walls," but few have written a song to hold the listener to the last note wondering what happens next.
Piephoff confronts modern life on "Twenty Miles to Baghdad." He lets us enter the mind of a soldier in that alien land and atmosphere and feel what war means on a deep down and personal level.
"Louisville Blues" is one of my favourites on an album of diamonds. You can feel the longing to get out of the snow and ice to a better place. I also love the title of "Religion Ain't Nothing But Love," as well as the poem with the title "Blonde Haired Blue Eyed Belly Dancer."
The beautiful track "My Old Man" will have resonance for anyone recalling good old days with a beloved father.
Good People is an album that will appeal to all good people who enjoy good music about real people.
- Rambles
written by Nicky Rossiter
published 4 September 2004