Lawyers Road Review

There is plenty of local music of little notice in restaurants and other venues. Occasionally an artist comes that deserves notice; Ford Giesbrecht of Camano Island is one such artist.

His first CD, Phat Cat has just been released on CD Baby. Ford mixes a light jazz crossover that makes any lawyer’s road a more pleasant journey. After a tough day in Superior Court, and you are still not sure what just happened, slide into the comfort of your own ride and head out on the road for some refuge with this CD in the bay. Find that sunset let the music take you away.

My favorite track, Seven Miles, references the distance from the I-5 interchange to his home on Camano Island. A happy tune that bespeaks of better times ahead and leaves the driver with a bounce in his step as he alights from the car, a stress reducing three minutes that gives the lawyer hope for a better tomorrow. Track 9, Pizza Nite, Ford played impromptu. He felt the groove, turned on the recorder, and started to play. You can hear the spontaneity throughout the cut.

Magic Tower tells the story of his boyhood in Saskatchewan, making the long drive to the relative’s house that held stringed instruments not available at home. Like any optical illusion, the tower moved from one side of the road to the other, as the car drew nearer on the mildly winding road; hence the magic of the tower. This scene is depicted on the album cover, and the imagination of the young boy still in place in manhood.

In the summer time the living is easy, and so is the listening. Track 7 is Ford’s cover of Summertime, which refuses to walk on the well tread path of the Gershwin tune. The original Southern setting, replaced by its own wet Western Washington feel.

Ford thinks track 3 is cliché. No it isn’t. The tenth track, Goads Grove leaves us wanting more from this artist. Phat Cat is available on CD Baby Music Store. Google his name, Ford Giesbrecht and it comes right up, and if you have a spare ten bucks it is worth every dime to hear what this man has to say in 10 Tracks.

But at a minimum spend the buck to hear Seven Miles. Trust the Lawyers Road Review, there is refuge in the road, even if it is just seven miles.