Slaid CleavesBy Don Henry Ford Jr.For some time I have wanted to watch Slaid Cleaves perform live. I have three of his cds and the two latest offerings get plenty of wear in my home. I finally got my chance last week when he performed along with a stellar cast at Gruene Hall during Fred Eaglesmith's yearly Texas pilgrimage.{mosimage}I recognized Slaid from pictures I had seen of him, but he was taller than I anticipated, I'm guessing a little over six feet. I expected dark eyes to match the thick shock of almost black hair, but his are bright and blue.He had no idea who I was, but accepted the hand I offered, greeted me warmly, and listened to what I had to say and ask-really listened-not like some guy just trying to be polite. I told him I was interested in writing a piece on him and gave him a copy of my book.Several days later he contacted me and said he'd come by my place in Seguin on his way to the coast where he plans to spend some time reading, relaxing and reconnecting, with hopes of finding material and inspiration for some new songs. He arrived in a van with a traveling companion-a girlfriend rescued from the side of the highway (don't worry Karen-she's a real dog).Slaid has a genuine smile and a pleasant aura, like a man content with the life he lives and the things he has. He seems untroubled and unhurried. Unlike many that have reached his measure of success, he also seems a humble man.Slaid was born the first of four in Washington DC. He lived in Virginia until he was five and then he and his family moved to southern Maine. He speaks with an almost neutral accent; you'd be hard pressed to determine his place of origin by listening to his voice. His father was a clinical psychologist, his mother a kindergarten teacher, who gave up her career after all the kids came along to be a full time mother. Slaid says that as a child he liked science and had an inquisitive mind, always wanting to know what made things tick.{mosimage}He learned to play the piano at an early age and then later, as a teen-ager, graduated to a guitar. He lists the Beatles, Johnny Cash, Tom Waits, the Clash and Bruce Springsteen among his early musical influences, but once he became interested in playing, he discovered his mentors had looked farther back in time for inspiration, so he did the same. All the way back to performers like Hank Williams and Woody Guthrie.Slaid eventually relocated in Austin after conquering the music scene in Portland, a town of some 60,000 residents, and now calls Austin home. He's married (much to the dismay of many young girls I'd guess), but has no children to date.Slaid is a modern day balladeer; many of his better songs tell the stories of people, places and historical events. I don't hear much in the way of the southern blues influence so prevalent in the Texas Americana scene nowadays, but instead a sound perhaps in the vein of Gordon Lightfoot or Robbie Robertson from The Band, both Canadians. Until he breaks out and begins to yodel at which point the spirit of Hank Williams appears alive right in front of your eyes. When I saw him perform, this generated a loud sustained response from the audience.Slaid is best known for the title tracks from Broke Down and Wishbones, both of which received ample airplay from the alternative radio stations around Austin and New Braunfels, and recognition from a national audience as well, but these two most recent albums are full of carefully crafted songs with catchy sounds-the kind that sound good the first time and progressively better each time thereafter.One of my favorites is Breakfast in Hell, the story of a heroic logger, Sandy Gray, who died trying to free a logjam in the Northern reaches of our continent. I almost feel the spirit of the guy in the words and I'm sure you will too. In the song he mentions the year ‘99. For some reason I thought he must be talking about 1999, but I missed it by over a hundred years. Sandy Gray was died in 1867, and Sandy Gray Falls is a real place somewhere in Canada. The year ‘99 was a "bit of creative license" on Slaid's part. Below tells the story of Flagstaff Maine, a village lost when a big corporation moved in and built a hydroelectric dam, without concern for the people or the history of the land to be swallowed by the water. Borderline is a haunting tale of an illegal alien fleeing Mexico looking for work in the United States based on the true story of a Mexican farmhand Slaid encountered working on a ranch in Wimberley, Texas. Quick as Dreams he got from the book Seabiscuit. Tommy Luther was a real person and after Slaid wrote the song he had the opportunity to meet his widow, Helen, whose 97 years young and still very much alive. You'll find many more varied and interesting stories in Slaid's repertoire.Listening to This Morning I Was Born Again, I sensed this song most accurately captures Slaid's outlook on life. But the words were once those of Woody Guthrie. Slaid told me Guthrie left a large body of unfinished work. Slaid found this one in a book called Pastures of Plenty, obtained permission from Guthrie's surviving family members to use the words, and composed the music to the song. Kind of neat to share publishing credit with an icon of Woody Guthrie's status. And I am sure if Woody were alive today, he'd feel humbled and privileged to share the song with Slaid Cleaves.I asked Slaid about his spiritual beliefs. He told me that he looks for love and truth and tries to incorporate those themes into his life and his songs, but that he doesn't feel the need to have all the answers; he's content to know there are some things that remain a mystery in this world.So if you happen to see a tall, dark and handsome man walking the beach with a brown crossbred dog alongside, introduce yourself. You might end up being the subject of a song. And it's liable to be a damned good one.I have a feeling Slaid Cleaves' songs are going to live long after the likes of you and me are dead and gone.{mosimage}
http://www.slaid.comClick Here To Purchase Slaid's latest cd at LoneStarMusic.com--------------------About the Author - Don Henry Ford, Jr.When Don's not writing books he lends out his talent to Americana Roots to put together great articles like this. You can pick up Don's latest book Contrabando: Confessions of a Drug Smuggling Cowby at your local bookstore or online at Cinco Puntos Press.
