PLAIN FOLK by Billy Jones My friend, Wayne Poffenbarger, and I attended the first concert that the Folk Music Club sponsored two years ago. I have to say that I was really impressed, delighted and well entertained. This is where I saw and heard, singer/songwriter, Ron Mason, for the first time. He appeared as a single, assisted by a few other performers. I liked Ron. He was very personable and displayed a shy wit that drew my attention to his songs and stories. He told us that he was a school teacher and I could only imagine the stories he could tell. These stories serve him well as an entertainer. The next time I saw Ron Mason, he was opening for the featured act at the Crescent Heights High School Theatre. Opening for a feature act is no easy job. There is a great deal of stress involved until you get rolling. I believe that Ron was feeling a little insecure that night. Been there, done that. As a matter of fact, to this day, I have a nervous knot in the pit of my stomach until after the first few bars of music have been played. Ron recently recorded a CD titled “The Climb”. I’m sure you’d like it. I like his songs and lyrics which leave me thinking that there is some depth to Ron Mason. However, I am a musician and I’ve spent a lot of time in recording studios over the years so I’d naturally be listening for something else. I heard Ron, an acoustic guitar, a harmonica, a bass, and some percussion on this CD. The credits tell me that there were also other personnel in the studio. There was a cello player that could have added a great deal of color to these songs and, a steel guitar player that could have done the same. These are wonderful tools of color and expression. Vocal support was weak and I was disappointed in the split between Ron and his students who seemed to be singing in another room. I’d like to reserve my comments about the slide guitar for another time. Before I revealed my thoughts about this recording, I asked a couple of my associates—who are also familiar with recordings—what their thoughts were. They both had the same question. “What happened to the mix?” Regardless, this is still a good recording of Ron Mason’s music and lyrics. I’m sure that his fans will be pleased. I am already a fan. There is a lot of potential here for him as a singer/songwriter and as showman. That is, if he’s willing to take it that far. All he has to do is unleash that talent I know he has, along with the talents of musicians with whom he shares the stage. I am certain that with the support of fans that he has,
and the ones he will accumulate, there will be nothing left to do but
watch him “Climb”. |