Steve Pride and his Blood Kin
Pride on Pride
Originally appeared in Amplifier magazine, October/November 1999
Steve Pride's "Haint" arrived last year to critical praise for its dark, folky atmosphere and
for Pride's well-worn, storyteller's voice. "Pride on Pride" finds the songwriter's raw,
straight-from-the-four-track side, with more than an hour's worth of live tracks, outtakes,
and demos. Usually these types of projects are meant to be placed against an artist's more
popular work to show how they've grown, or they're just contractual obligation albums.
"Pride on Pride" is not a contractual obligation, and it actually shows an artist growing
from one end of the album to the other. The album traces the path of how "Daddy Played the
Guitar" evolved from early Dylan shuffle into "The Immaculate Sound," with a military beat and
Warren Zevon's cynical sneer.
And there are a few well-produced treasures in here, the best of
which is "The Last Bar in Town," with its layered piano and guitar and punchy melody.
Wilco's Jay Bennet on guitar and piano, and Don Gerard on bass form a solid backdrop for Pride,
capable of jumping from the honkey-tonk of "The Devil Said" (a song that originally appeared
on "Haint") to the more rocking "Drive," to spare aesthetics of "The Ghost of Mary Magdalene"
and "One Last Time." And proving Pride's country leanings, there are plenty of hard-luck,
hard-drinkin' tunes, sure to build your credibility at any truck stop.
A great mix of tunes for alt.country fans.
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