J.C. Campbell

If you haven't heard of JC Campbell, now is the time to check him out. Lazy James is a rootsy, blues record with no shortage of grit. Campbell sings like a road-weary troubadour, and his deep, smoky pipes make him sound like he's straight outta Nashville. But it's not just his voice that makes this record a treat - the guitar work is also exceptional. The standout here is The Grind, a dirty, bluesy number which was made to be paired with a night of drinking Standard at the Times Change(d). If you're a fan of the man in black, Lazy James is worthy of a place in your collection.
— Jen Zoratti
- Uptown Magazine

J C Campell
First Nations, Canada

Lazy James
Review by Jamison Mahto





I know that when you hear a good Country CD it’s guaranteed that you’re going to hear some hard storytelling about hard drinkin’, hard women, and hard livin’ Interspersed with some great slide guitar or pedal steel playing. That’s what you get from JC Campbell’s CD Lazy James. In fact the slide work on this album is much in the blues genre if it weren’t for JC’s vocals. That’s a pure country sound in those vocal chords and heart.

JC Campbell, a Metis(Canadian-Native American) working out of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada is a singer/songwriter who combines blues, country, and rock for a unique blend all his own. Nominated for best blues CD and best song writer at the 2007 Aboriginal People’s Choice Awards, he sings heart felt original compositions with a strong baritone country-blues voice and after hearing the material on the CD, I know that he and I have walked some similar steps along a similar path.

The musicians on the CD include Jay Ross on lead, acoustic, rhythm and an absolutely brilliant slide guitar. JC Campbell on an acoustic guitar, of course, and DJ St. Germain on the bass and also some lead guitar. Tim Sutton rounds out the instruments and he’s solid on drums. JC Campbell works the background vocals with Tracy Bone, also a major country talent in her own right.

In the song Fortune, a brilliant sweet slide guitar fits perfectly with the sentiment of the song about how good times and bad times have an intimate relationship. “Don’t let the bad times get you down, the good stuff is good enough to turn things around.”

The song Far From You is a crying in your beer honky-tonk love song about missing a loved one. “I don’t want to be far from you, I don’t want to not hear, I don’t want to not feel, I don’t want to not be by your side.” It’s a clever and beautiful use of a double negative. This song is a spare country folk piece sung with just an acoustic guitar accompaniment as if JC is singing to his loved one right there in the studio, up close and personal. Beautiful.

Wino is that song about hard drinkin’ that I mentioned earlier in this review. There seems to be an angelic chorus in the background. The choir relates to the nature of alcohol and alcoholism and our communities relationship to the disease of alcoholism and the inherent loneliness in it.

The title track Lazy James is an autobiographical piece that lyrically lets us in to the life and experience of JC. When he sings “Here comes Lazy James, taking his sweet time, there ain’t no worry, he’s in no hurry, in a lazy state of mind” you know that he’s lived the things that he sings about.

One of the things that you get in great country music are great male/female vocal duets. Kenny and Dolly, Kris and Rita, George and Tammy, Loretta and Conway to name just a few that everyone but the neophyte will recognize even without last names. On this CD the song No Lies, a high point of this work, starts out with a scratchy record sound that gives this piece an old school country feel to it. A duet with Tracy Bone, it is also the title of Tracy’s own CD which was nominated for a 2007 Aboriginal People’s Choice Award in the category Best Country CD. This is a particularly strong vocal performance with a lyrical sentiment that speaks about honesty in your intimate relationships. Whoo. Hot.

Go Ahead starts with some strong rock oriented slide guitar and the lyrical sentiment is about urging your loved one to aspire to their dream and telling them to be confident in their dream because their love is strong and supportive of their efforts to do that. “Don’t worry, I ain’t goin’ nowhere and I’ll be right here when you get back.” Once again there is some sweet bottleneck slide guitar work.

Keep On Tryin’ again features some excellent slide work by Jay Ross that provides the framework for a positive sentiment that tells us to never give up on our journey to peace of mind.

This CD is strong instrumentally, vocally and lyrically. It features one of the finest love song duets in Indian Country today. This is the stuff that makes Honky Tonkin’ worth it. Sometimes there is a vision of light down at the bottom of that glass. Does it really get any better than that? I’m glad that I can add this one to my archives of talented Native American musicians and their music.

For further info on this artist please surf to the following web site: http://www.myspace.com/campbelljc

To contact J C: jcandtracy2005@hotmail.com

Reporter
Jamison Mahto
jamison@iicoc.com
Indigenous Internet Chamber of Commerce







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