25. Album Preview of Songs From the Oxen Road by Reverend Rooster

Originally published August 6th, 2024

About the Artist

I say this: who doesn’t love a great story? If you found yourself raising your hand, we are not the same. I love a good story. I love how it twists and turns, how it feeds your anticipations and then just  eludes them altogether. 

Almost better than hearing a good story, is meeting somebody who you know has good stories to tell. They have that bright look in their eyes, a smile on their face because they’re just happy. They’ve lived a life, they’ve experienced its beauty, and they understand how special that is. They’ve learned how to articulate all of that. That’s the feeling I got when I read about this next artist, Steve Smith. 

Steve Smith, also known as “Reverend Rooster,” is a singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist who currently resides in Wiscasset, Maine. He lives with his wife, Alisa and their plott hound. Their dog’s name? SkyDog. Smith’s alias comes from his career as a radio jock, where he was the “Rock and Roll Reverend” on Maine radio. Matt Truman, of the band Dead Season, is the person who gave Smith the nickname “Reverend Rooster.” (Smith)

Well, Reverend Rooster has wanted to make an album for a long time. In addition to the usual suspects (self doubt, excuses, justifications, distractions), he had many reasons to not go through with it. For one, his job had him traveling 30-35 weeks out of the year. 

Then something happened.

As was the case with many of us, the pandemic grounded Smith’s travel and he and his wife ended up settling into their home in Maine. It was at this time they decided to stay there. Behind his home, they discovered an old farm road that farmers used to use to move cattle to and from one field or another. They decided to name it “Oxen Road.”

Then something happened. 

Reverend Rooster was diagnosed with cancer. And then he beat cancer. There comes a point in life where excuses run out, the situation is just right, and the right inspiration comes along. Smith went to the studio with 10 songs to record. He left with 19 ready to press. 

About the Album

Songs from the Oxen Road will be released in two parts, with Side One releasing September 9th and Side Two releasing on September 23rd. I’ve heard Side One, which is a 10 song LP with a run time of approximately 36 minutes. It has the feel of a Southern Rock Album, similar to the likes of Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bob Seger, Van Morrison, and somebody the Reverend actually referenced in his bio, John Denver. Songs of the Oxen Road was recorded at the Root Cellar. It was engineered and produced by Bob Colwell.

The album is a storyteller album. I loved Smith’s bio because it had a message about how the album came to be, and then little passages that reference every song, giving a little bit of information. “Side one starts with a teenager joining a log drive in the Kennebec River in 1933 and ends with a guy trying to figure it out on the docks in Stonington.” (Smith)

The Music

Instrumentally, the album features acoustic guitar, electric lead guitar, bass, drums, piano, and for one song, a harmonica. There are also occasional samples, like a dog barking. The players are Bob Colwell, Smith’s son Sam, Steve Jones, Scott Elliot, and Smith’s uncle, Tom, as well as Smith himself.

 The style revolves mostly around a southern rock influence, though there is sometimes a moving bass line or drum sequence that experiments with a traditional jazz sound.

Vocally, Smith’s performance is very organic. There are no effects or layers, and not much in the way of backing vocals. 

The musical performance is overall solid and in the pocket. The accompaniment does its job to support the vocal melody and takes few opportunities to implement solos or any ornamentation that might distract from the vocals. The vocal performance takes the lead within this band of musicians. Showing more diversity than the arrangement, the vocals are similarly disciplined and are not intended to be complex. The complexities of this work are delivered through the lyrical songwriting.

The Lyrics

The musicality of this album is good. It is solid all the way around. But the songwriting is where Smith has chosen to showcase his ability to truly stand out. He doesn’t use analogy, he rather finds direction to illustrate and articulate each of the songs and their meanings. In “Riverdriver,” he even is able to offer an explanation of what a river driver is, which is a person who would guide floating logs, being produced by logging companies, down river to their destinations. He talks about the dangers of the job, the excitements, and is really able to articulate the time, this being set in the 1930’s.

I particularly like how illustrative “A White Gate” is. Listening to the lyrics, the narrator takes us on a tour through a farm; describing crops, landmarks, and other parts of the scenery while envisioning their past and what would be taking place in those places at one time in their life or another. Looking back at the bio for the album, I was surprised to learn this is actually a poem written by Smith’s late father, who was describing their family farm.

I also loved “Georgia Hound,” which was a song written about Smith’s loyal companion, SkyDog. It’s rather endearing, as it features a sample of the legend himself. The song features the story of how SkyDog made his way, by plane, to his family from Georgia. It also gives insight into his personality, his loud bark, and how he likes going on walks around the property. This is actually one of the few songs that features backing vocals as the final chorus climatically goes through the joys of the narrator having his “Georgia Hound.”

The songs are very well written. At first glance, it doesn’t seem like there’s any analogy, and it is straight storytelling. But having listened to this album a few times now, I don’t believe that to necessarily be true anymore. I’m not sure the author even deliberately wrote a metaphorical piece. But I think there is hidden meaning.

Then something happened.

Final Thoughts

About twenty-five years ago, there was a movie that came out called “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” It starred George Clooney, was directed by the Coen Brothers, most people have heard of it. It follows three misfits who are literally connected to each other, as they escape while working as members of a chain gang, and through a series of entertaining events, go on a journey to uncover a would be treasure that the leader of their outfit boasted he got from a bank heist. Though detailed and entertaining, the story is straight forward. It doesn’t leave much for interpretation.

But that’s what it is; an interpretation. It’s been widely publicized that The Coen brothers loosely based their award winning movie off of The Odyssey.They even credit Homer as a cowriter.

Reverend Rooster tells us what this album is about. “Side one starts with a teenager joining a log drive on the Kennebec River in 1933 and ends with a guy trying to figure it out on the docks in Stonington.” He says it point blank and lyrically, there is a lot to support that synopsis. 

But this album is about Utopia. It’s about a place that makes the author happier than any other place. Being there with his wife and SkyDog (it’s no accident this pup is the subject of so much of the story either), it’s perfect. That doesn’t mean he can’t cut his leg out on a hike, he won’t have bad days where a car won’t start, or he’ll never catch a cold. I simply mean that it’s a place that inspires him. An old farm road inspired him to create 19 songs. An old farm road led him to meet his spirit animal, the coyote. Something he didn’t necessarily believe in until it manifested itself before his eyes. It’s more than dirt and foliage. It’s more than the air. It’s spiritual and I believe that Reverend Rooster felt that. The problem is, to paraphrase the Reverend, I don’t know if I really believe in that kind of stuff.

But then something happened. 

He showed us.