Radio Caroline

LYRICS…LYRICS…LYRICS!!! So refreshing to know that mixed up in this world of Commercial, Bubble-gum CRAP, there are artists who still can hone in on their craft. No booty-shakin’ or half naked girls needed here; David Lykins just offers a convincing word-of-mouth. Sex does sell in the market of music, but Lykins proves to the listener that all an artist needs sometimes is just a pen and a pad. In his case, it would be a crayon in which all songs were scribbled in. And let’s be serious, you can’t get much simpler than a crayon and scribbling, Come ON!

Lykins is an artist who is true to himself and who I feel is nothing but real to his fans/listeners. This story-book, Country singer/songwriter brings you blurry white guy, which is solely written and produced by Lykins. David Lykins is a wordsmith from Chicago, but really had to travel to the country music capital of Nashville to get that distinct sound on this record.

I noticed right away from song one that David Lykins made the right choice to travel to Nashville’s Omni Sound Studios. The sound is just a powerful, musical explosion that is recorded in such profound fashion. The added session players offer a wonderful dynamic to Lykin’s playing and lyrics. One truly great effect is how Lykins and Omni Studios balanced the Electric VS. Acoustic battle. One didn’t overpower the other as both acoustic and electric guitars were able to live together peacefully, as one. Amazing that even though some tracks offer Plugged-in audio, the songs still have that element of being Un-plugged. This acoustic/electric quality is nothing short of impeccable and on its way to being a sensational hit!

On “Greetings from the Riviera”, Lykins touches on the effects of that unforgettable Vietnam War. Based on a soldier who made it back safely, in body, but never returned fully from the trip, in spirit, is the premise of this song. “Jesus lost a foot back in the last one, so it’s said he left some of his soul behind. He left there, but never made it home”. Words so potent and yet hauntingly true.

Add in melodic/pitch-friendly vocals along with Soothing-to-the-bones chorus lines and you have yourself Chi-Town’s own David Lykins. Blurry white guy is the record and this Windy City storyteller has a few thoughts to share with the world. For more on David Lykins and blurry white guy, SKOPE out www.ravindave.com.

By Jimmy Rae

Rating 4 out of 5
- Jimmy Rae

Blurry White Guy
David Lykins
Available from CD Baby.

A review written for the Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange
by Mark S. Tucker
(progdawg@hotmail.com).

David Lykins is playing what he calls "subversive country" music, which at first sounds a bit curious until you understand he was raised on Hank Williams, Ernest Tubbs, and Kris Kristofferson. Ahhhh, so he's not a bomb-throwing sonic anarchist from the North 40 dedicated to ridiculing the entire genre? Right. What he digs is a down-to-the-marrow approach and the initial cut, "Houston", is a track Warren Zevon would've been proud to have penned, straight in the tradition of Lawyers, Guns & Money.

Now, I hasten to say that country, even subversive country, is rarely my cup of tea, but I recognize when a guy's doing it right, and Lykins is not all that far from Steve Earle, Dwight Yoakum, and Garth Brooks…but just far enough, as I'd much rather listen to Lykins than those cats: he speaks to me when he writes. Especially, I know all too well what the composer's talking about in Good News, and the lightly Irish undertone all the more buttresses an element of workaday cares and troubles. Lykin also hired a great back-up team: members from New Grass Revival, Garth's band, the Dixie Chicks alongside several other talented individuals.

The folk element is what, for me, makes the disc. Let Me Carry This marries it to the country aspect perfectly, opening and proceeding in a Bruce Cockburn-ish vein soon subordinated to Lykins' country twang and grit but never surrendering, always matrixing the complementary sound, thus creating a highly attractive cut, the best of the CD, irresistible for its smooth rhythms and John Gardner's highly musical drumming. The singer's elevated passion near the end induces gooseflesh.

As I say, true country isn't my gig, but Lykins clearly loves the mode, and he's also a bit like Harry Chapin and ilk. The guy's done what Michael Stanley and others should've but didn't, so, yeah, he has indeed subverted country while honoring it. Mission accomplished.

- Mark S. Tucker

David Lykins – Blurry White Guy
2008, David Lykins

David “Ravin’ Dave” Lykins is a Chicago area actor/singer/songwriter/poet with a reputation for a big voice. His debut CD, 2008’s Blurry White Guy has been described as “subversive country music”, and it’s easy to see why. Lykins takes traditional country forms and imbues them with a not-quite-reckless sense of variety and composition that goes far beyond your typical music row pop hybrid. With a supporting cast including Pat Flynn (New Grass Revival), Chris Leuzinger (Garth Brooks), John Gardener (Dixie Chicks), Dow Tomlin and Jeff Taylor, Lykins has produced one of the more intriguing country albums of the past year.

Blurry White Guy opens with Houston, a Country/Rock hybrid about Hurricane Katrina and the impact it has on the residents of New Orleans. It’s an amazingly upbeat song for the dark, solemn subject matter and has real commercial punch. The family in the song is separated, with the children in Memphis and the parents in Houston. This is probably one of the best musical paeans to the Katrina Disaster that anyone has written/recorded. Greetings From The Riviera is a great story song that is heart-breaking in its picturesque detail. Let Me Carry This has a wonderfully dark atmosphere that frames Lykins’ All-American country voice, and while Lykins writes in essentially classic country forms, he often builds sound and structure into his songs that separate them from the pop/country pack.

A personal favorite here is Day After Valentine. It’s a sweet song without sounding hokey or trite and likely to be a fan favorite. Come Along is another favorite; a song that captures some of the Celtic spirit of Country and Western Music. You’ll also want to check out Flying and This Is My House.

David Lykins sounds enough like popular country artists to get some commercial attention, with enough variation and complexity in his music to earn some respect from fellow musicians. Blurry White Guy is a perplexing, intriguing and ultimately rewarding listen. It’s popular music with a subversive core. Accessible to consumers of the mindless pop machine that has overtaken parts of Music Row, but deep and wide enough to interest people who still listen to the music. Blurry White Guy, indeed.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5) - Wildy's World

I have an affinity for seasoned white guys whose anorexia appears to be in total remission and who have the talent, wherewithal and guts to pick up a guitar, write some songs and, to varying degrees, get the job done. Dave Lykins fills the bill on all counts. I don’t know much about him, other than that BLURRY WHITE GUY is his debut CD, collecting a bunch of songs which, in Lykins’ words, he “scribbled in crayon” (much the same way I write these reviews) and recorded after hiring a small group of more-than competent studio musicians to provide additional guitar, bass and drums (with some keyboards and mandolins thrown in) to accompany Lykins strumming. So what’s the verdict? Not bad. Not perfect, but not bad at all.Lykins’ vocals are not necessarily distinctive, but he can certainly carry a tune and the warmth of his delivery attracts rather than detracts. Occasionally he sounds as if he is making up the lyrics as he goes along; yet nearly every track on BLURRY WHITE GUY shows an occasional flash of brilliance, even genius. Listen to “Good News,” which starts off sounding as if the singer is just dropping in for an unexpected visit. If the hairs on the back of your neck aren’t standing at attention by the end of it, you haven’t been paying attention. Track 8 - "I’ve Been In Love Before” sounds like something that John Prine could have written early on, but it’s Lykins’ song, all the way. You can’t copy John Prine; you’ve either got the chops or you don’t, and on this song, the chops all belong to Lykins. It’s one thing to be on the wrong side of 50 and be familiar with having your heart broken, but it’s another thing to sing about how it feels, with authority and without being maudlin. On the other hand, “Here’s Your Love Song,” while being clever, even amusing in spots, owes maybe a tad too much to “Here’s A Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)” by Travis Tritt. Lykins redeems himself, however, with “Day After Valentine,” about a guy who in Lykins’ words, is “showin’ up a day late, and several dollars short,” hoping he’ll be welcome. I don’t know how many more songs Lykins has bouncing around inside himself but based on most of what you’ll hear on BLURRY WHITE GUY they will all be worth at least one listen. Someone make sure that this gent gets a chance to make another project. Joe Hartlaub - Joe Hartlaub

David Lykins,
Blurry White Guy
(independent, 2008)

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The first two cuts of Blurry White Guy -- its cover features an unfocused photograph of the artist, a member of the Caucasian tribe -- so much resemble Joe Ely songs that you could almost swear that's what you're hearing. The opener, "Houston," is even set in Ely's Texas. The second, "Greetings from the Riviera," might as well be the title of an Ely piece (perhaps a ghostly echo of another communications-themed composition, "Letter to Laredo"), and its Hispanic protagonist could easily be a character in one of his border ballads. And there's the fusion of rock, country and folk, albeit without the Tex-Mex seasonings. David Lykins, after all, hails from Chicago.

Which may be why "I've Been in Love Before" and "Day After Valentine" are so reminiscent of Diamonds in the Rough-era John Prine, who grew up near Chicago and honed his craft in that city's folk clubs. What I'm not hearing, I am relieved to report, are the Rolling Stones, whom Lykins cites as a leading influence. It has been decades since the Stones weren't all self-indulgence and, worse, self-parody, the very model of a modern corporate musical enterprise. That aside, blues is absent from Lykins's approach, and rock is far from all that's happening here. So he's not a heartland rocker in the vein of Bob Seger or John Mellencamp either. Fortunately, neither is he a singer-songwriter of the sensitive sort.

Though its influences aren't hard to discern -- and there's nothing wrong with audible influences; what matters is what you do with them -- Blurry White Guy is a good album. I've been listening to it pretty much nonstop since it arrived in yesterday's mail, and I like it better each time it spins past. Lykins, the photographs (non-blurry ones on the back cover and inside) depicting as a beefy middle-aged man, is a smart, mature writer with a gimlet gaze and a wit's way of upending cliches. Titles like "I've Never Been in Love Before" and "Here's Your Love Song" raise certain expectations, all tinged with dread, and neither of these fulfills any of them. After learning he's delivered quite the opposite, which may be why Lykins calls his music "subversive country," you'll want to shake the man's hand.

- Rambles.Net

Artist: BAND: David Lykins
Album: blurry white guy
Website: http://ravindave.com
Genre: Americana
Sounds Like: lyle lovett, kris kristofferson
Technical Grade: 8/10
Production/Musicianship Grade: 8/10
Commercial Value: 8/10
Overall Talent Level: 9/10
Songwriting Skills: 9/10
Performance Skill: 9/10
Best Songs: greetings from the riviera, let me carry this, here's your love song
Weakness: spotty vocals, slightly trebly overall sound (though band is great)
CD Review: I really like Dave Lykins songwriting. Sure, Houston's a bit strident for an opener, and maybe you could quibble that sometimes he takes a while to get to the chorus, but here's a guy who's passionate about what he does, does it well, and has something to say. I've played this record cos I wanted to. Always the best excuse.

He doesn't have a great voice, but a serviceable one. At times he reaches into his higher register and it sounds great, fluid, and strong, but it happens all too rarely. But it feels like this should be his second career. His first should be songwriting. This man should have a publishing deal in Nashville, no doubt. It's a sad state of affairs when Dave Lykins hasn't had his songs recorded by anyone of note (I may be wrong about that- I misplaced his bio), and Toby Keith has...a career.
Not that there's anything wrong with Toby Keith, per se. But he should be singing Dave Lykins songs! I bet Alan Jackson could tear up Let Me Carry This For You or I've Been In Love Before. Or Clint Black. Here's Your Love Song is a wonderful anti-love song (would that be a hate song? Naaah...) about writing a tune for your love just as she's walking out the door. The hook is priceless: Here's your love song, take it and go!

That takes imagination. That takes humor. That takes guts. I can't think of anyone that might pull that off in today's bland macho environment. Maybe Reba McIntyre. Or Bonnie Raitt.
And Flying- that's a song done solo, but begging to be turned into a duet for...Randy Travis and Martina McBride? Alison Krauss and....whoever.

So maybe some American Idol runner-up with a bit of cash and a record deal will hear a tune or two and say hey, I could do that. That's a great song. I sure hope so. And when he or she turns it into a major hit and you buy that record and turn it over and see songwriter: Dave Lykins, don't be surprised. Be glad. You've made one blurry white guy very happy...
That's the fantasy, at least. But in the meantime...Rock on. We salute you!

A for effort, 8 out of 10
- Dan Cohen