Kimbrough's 'This' is Cinderella of summer albums

CHASE FARMER
DM Senior Staff Writer

Now that the scorching heat has taken a much needed break and it looks like this sweltering summer may finally be winding down, it's time for us to take a look back at this summer's music and see how it measured up to Mother Nature on the ol' thermometer.

I want, in no particular order, to pick my five favorite albums of the summer and expound on them week by week. I'm no Billboard, but hey, I'll have to do.

Let's start things off with my Cinderella album of the summer.

This summer Will Kimbrough wore the glass slipper, with the release of his first solo album, "This."

I'm not implying that Kimbrough's life was so bad as to have been living in a cellar, he just wasn't getting the attention he deserved for the amount of work he was doing.

After splitting up with his original band, Will and the Bushmen in the early '90s, Kimbrough settled in to a role as a freelance guitarist. Joining the likes of Tommy Womack, Todd Snider and Matthew Ryan. His reputation as a guitarist kept him busy but also kept him in the shadow. Sure he was making a name for himself among musicians but his talents had not been fully realized.

Then that chubby little fairy popped up and amongs all the touring and session work he was able to release "This."

Demonstrating the patience, honesty and hard work that he has given to music for so long both in his lyrics and music, Kimbrough crashed the ball, so to speak.

Centered around his unmistakable guitar work and his extremely sound lyrics, Kimbrough surprises everyone with the sound of the record. From his background of bandmates, those of the title elusive genre of alternative country, I expected another rootsy folk record. Kimbrough though, dipped back into his days with the Bushmen to generate again his beautifully blended Southern pop sound. Blended between the catchy pop hooks and the actual depth of the message, "This" is far from your average pop. Kimbrough is subtle, luring you in with his hooks and then before you know it you've heard all you didn't know you were hearing. It's beautiful really.

Kimbrough doesn't completely forget his folk/roots rock friends on the record, the standout song on the album is an intimate guitar and vocal track about a teenage prostitute called "Diamond in a Garbage Can." One other track on the album, "Goodnight Moon," is acoustic in nature, the rest is full on pop.

This album is one of the freshest things that has happened to my music collection in a while. Go out on a limb and pick this one up. The better "This" does, the longer before the clock strikes midnight for Mr. Kimbrough.