Jobie Reviews Music 160: Pale Moon on the Prairie (album) by Rick Pickren. Requested by F63.

Pale Moon on the Prairie is a 2017 country album by Rick Pickren. It is 14 tracks long, spanning 37 minutes and 53 seconds of music. The album, much like Rick Pickren’s other works, features well-executed country tunes which never fail to entertain. This is due to Rick Pickren’s continued display of excellent musicianship, which has been prevalent for decades at this point.

Those who’ve followed this series since the very beginning (which, let’s face it, is a label that’ll only apply to one person reading this) might recall that I did 4 separate reviews on each respective volume of The State Songs, a collaboration between the Illinois Arts Council and Rick Pickren. Not only does the quality of these tracks match and exceed those of that series, they also prove that Pickren is a great songwriter. On this album, one might hear an excerpt of typical country life (“Shoot the Buffalo”), or a tale about mysterious occurrences (“Beneath the Apple Trees”).

This variation of lyrical content (which sticks to a “typical, relaxing country life” theme) further proves that Pickren knows how to write songs, the 14 tracks on the album being a nice display of this ability.

On top of the well-written lyrics, the instrumentation and vocals on each track are interesting and enjoyable to listen to, with “My Rifle, My Pony and Me” containing a rather unexpected yodeling section. Pickren’s ability to compose consistently interesting country tunes is quite amazing, considering his (at present) 15 album discography.

Though I spent a good portion of this review praising Pickren’s well-written lyrics, not all of the 14 tracks have lyrics. In particular, the tracks “A Prairie Prelude” and “Run Through the Mustard” have no lyrics to speak of, instead being solely instrumental tracks. Still, Pickren manages to make even these tracks interesting, the aforementioned good instrumentation making the two tracks enjoyable to listen to.

My favorite tracks from the album are “Pale Moon on the Prairie”, “God Save the King and Queen”, “Beneath the Apple Trees”, and “Cattle Kate”.

Overall, Pale Moon on the Prairie is another excellent example of Pickren’s consistently good musicianship. The great instrumentation, vocals, and lyrics present on the over half hour album make for a truly enjoyable album to listen to. The country life theme that’s present on the album allows Pickren some lyrical flexibility, making for some interesting tracks. No complaints here.

Overall rating:

9.5/10

LINK TO ALBUM:

https://open.spotify.com/album/1V8ufHjdNzhxvLVjCnURX9