Paul Russell

Paul Russell was a much younger man when this CD came out, as can be told by his photo on the album cover. He was a freshmen in college when he recorded some of these songs for the first time, and some of them were written well before that time period. Even so, the depth of wisdom in his lyrics, the maturity in his writing, and the skillful guitar slinging could have belonged to a man twice his age. He sings of family, of searching, of looking, of longing. He has a simple faith, and that comes through in some of his best tunes. Check out "Talk about Free", which should have won a Dove award that year, or "12:00 Train", which should have been nominated for a CMA award. This CD is not perfect--it was recorded inexpensively, and there are times when the production is not as tight as it should be--but it is a simply spectacular testimony to what we missed when this guy walked away from the guitar to raise his family. If you can get a copy--and there is no way you can have mine!--get it. You won't be sorry. I've been listening to it for about 15 years and haven't gotten tired of it yet.