The backstory is almost too perfect. Songwriter wanders from place to place in the western U.S., crashing with friends, reading Steinbeck and Hemingway and, um, recording songs. Send those on to John Moreland, who gently whips them into shape. Send that script into Hollywood and you get "call back with something less cliche."

John Calvin Abney Tourist (Black Mesa Records)

Okay, but that's what happened. Abney did wander (with a portable studio, like one does) and Moreland did collaborate on the production of the field recordings. The feel of the songs is just as loose as the concept. There's a lot of 70s cosmic country and 90s alt-country (which sorta-kinda blended into the whole americana thing), but the focus is on Abney's mellow-but-insistent vocal style. He's got the perfect voice for this style, and he and Moreland are wise enough to know this.

The vocals are front-and-center, but the music provides a solid stage. My guess is that Abney recorded the vocals and acoustic guitar on the road, and the percussion and synthesizers (which take on many forms, including various piano sounds) largely came in later. A couple of these songs are so Mellotron-centric, however, that I wonder if he didn't have that in his road gear as well.

This is the sort of album that lends itself to musing. Since I write about music, I tend to wonder how the sounds came to be. Perhaps another might consider the path of an ant on a leaf or the touch of a lover. Meditation is good for the soul, and Abney has created a lovely path for just that. Listening to just a couple songs will totally change your day. Get in the mood.

Jon Worley