Daniel Amos Message Board | Print: Review - All Day Sing & Dinner On The Ground

Posted by Mark on 08-05-2004 at21:33:

Review - All Day Sing & Dinner On The Ground

Here's a review I found by Jason Hoffman at www.whatzup.com

He has done other reviews of DA, i.e. MBD. Not sure if this is on the website here or not so I'm posting it.

All Day Sing & Dinner On The Ground
MIke Roe & Terry Taylor
by Jason Hoffman

What to do when you’ve been in the business so long that all your band members have grown up and gotten real jobs? If you are Mike Roe or Terry Taylor (of the seminal and highly influential alt-Christian bands 77s and Daniel Amos, respectively) you team up and hit the road. As these men like to eat as much as sing, their ingenious idea was to tour the Midwest as The Cleverly Brothers, hosting backyard BBQs to entertain their fans who also enjoy eating. To support the tour they put out All Day Sing & Dinner On The Ground, an EP containing some of the original music they would be playing.

There are three food-related songs (penned with Taylor’s usual rapier wit) and three more serious songs. All consist of two acoustic guitars, two harmonious voices, a bit of bass and a tickle of percussion. The title track is a plucky, fun ditty with bluegrass influences, a welcome to celebrate time with family and friends, those things that truly last. “Good Bread, Good Meat, Good God, Let’s Eat!” is, er, a prayer song with lyrics like “But the smell is really killing us / The side dishes are filling us” and “And although in God we trust / We’re kinda in a rush.” More than just a silly song, Taylor and Roe make a gentle analogy of our inability to resist a third helping of pie to more eternal matters. “Happy Campers” is a big ol’ happy sing-along with such great lines as “We’ve got diarrhea / We’re wearing our pampers/ We’re hap, hap, happy campers” and “While your throwin’ the Frisbees / Give thought to our CDs/ They’re there on the table / That’s how we are able / To pay our bills and our rent.”

The first of the serious songs is “In the Meantime,” a relaxed look forward to eternity in Heaven with those we love, all with effortless vocal harmonies and clean acoustic guitars. “River of Sorrow” overflows with more vocal harmonies, floating on a sad, contemplative, yet very beautiful melody. The album closer, “All The Very Best Things,” asks “Without darkness what is light? / Without sorrow what is joy?” amid a stunning melody and mellow country rhythm that would be right at home on many local stations.

These songs were recorded quickly, polished only by the professionalism earned through decades of performing. The fun, spirited, relaxed studio experience effortlessly bleeds through to the listener, creating a welcome and warm invitation to join in the fun, sing along with old cronies and eat lots of meat. Available for a nominal fee at www.danielamos.com and www.michaelroe.com.

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