MP3 Jeff Skorik - Another Day Down

Americana bad ass blues, not unlike Chris Isaak.

10 MP3 Songs
POP: Power Pop, ROCK: Modern Rock



Details:
Jeff Skorik  

Another Day Down

A-Track Music

4 stars

''I've been a bus boy, bar back, fry cook, can crusher, car porter, janitor, doorman and dishwasher,'' signs Nashville's Jeff Skorik in a song called The Factory, one of the many highlights of his fine debut album, Another Day Down.

The job stuff doesn't stop there: Skorik goes on to detail further gigs: painter, hard hat, valet, paper boy, grass cutter and more. In other words, the true life meanderings of a struggling Nashville musician:

''I'm eating red beans and cheese chilitas/ Yeah, it's another day down/ I got another flat on the Ford Festiva/ It's another day down.''

That sort of stuff. Skorik is the guy behind the counter; the guy whose motor stutters at the drive-through window; the guy playing rock 'n' roll at a tiny pizza joint on a Monday night while customers sprinkle extra parmesan cheese on slices of pepperoni pie; the ne'er do well friends figure could make something of himself if he'd ever get some focus.

He is also an unusually gifted songwriter, capable of conveying the painful vagaries of the human condition through understated melodies and specific language. In Broken Heart, for instance, a broken heart is not likened merely to a busted nose. Instead, Skorik writes that the heart in question is ''like a belly full of beer/ And a mouth full of blood/ And your face down in the mud.''

Throughout, the rhythm section of bass player Don Johnson and drummer Rick Schell provide underpinnings that range from murmuring to riotous (though the bass is sometimes mixed too prominently for low budget stereo speakers to accurately capture), and Skorik contributes pleasing guitar work (both electric leads and lovely, classical-style finger-picking). Sax man/flute player Freeman Fiala also guests, and the soundscape is reminiscent of something that might be expected from a less prettified Chris Isaak.

Opening with the pessimistic A Cruel Thing, the song set moves through tales of aimless, shameless love and tough-nosed scuffling. Album's end, though, finds Skorik asking for redemption in Falling Down, pleading ''Take me as I am, in case I never change'' while holding out hope that ''This could be the night that you might save me.''

Another Day Down is a captivating piece of work, ample evidence that Nashville's sidewalks and bar stools often hold more talent than its Music Row office buildings.

Reviewed by Peter Cooper of The Tennessean


http://nashvillerage.com/music/cds/cds2001/030101-skorik.shtml

Jeff Skorik: Another Day Down



published: 01 MARCH 2001 - The Rage

Jeff Skorik
Another Day Down
A-trackmusic.com

You can tell a lot about this book by its cover. In this case, instead of the standard "me & my guitar" photo, there's an impressionistic painting. And inside, a bogus "Metro Nashville Sidewalk Encroachment Permit." Jeff's clearly got some depth, which you'll appreciate after listening to his brief (just 34 minutes) debut effort, especially if you've had your heart torn out and stomped flat lately. In fact, if you've ever been way more into someone than they are into you, you'll dig Jeff's defiant melancholy and his Positively Pessimistic (the fifth cut on this disc) view on life. Even on non-love songs, like the I've-had-every-crummy-job-there-is lament The Factory, the music comes out the same shade of blue as his collar. But whether it's catchy numbers like Bloodshot Eyes of Blue or the positively pretty Falling Down, it's on matters of the heart where Skorik shines most brightly. If you haven't caught one of his live gigs yet, grab a copy of this CD soon so you can sing along next time, because after all, misery loves company. - John Brassil