I didn’t know who Jeff Black was before I got this CD. I still don’t know anything about him except for what I’ve heard on his debut recording. Black is a poet who puts music to his words. He has written all twelve songs on "Birmingham Road." He also plays both the electric and acoustic guitar along with an occasional harmonica. Some of the songs have a sparse arrangement and others a full band, but it is Black’s pleasing voice that dominates this disc throughout. It is roots rock music with brilliant storytelling.

  This is an intensely personal record with a melancholy undercurrent to it. In the opening track called "Long Way To Go," Black shares his feelings about kids growing up and eventually leaving home. "What Do I Want" is a whimsical melody with Black questioning what’s right and what’s wrong, what does he need compared to what does he want. In a song called "That’s Just About Right" Black sings of an artist friend who asks him for an honest opinion of his work. Black says "I think the world you painted it’s just the way that it appears to you." Black paints his own world in this thought provoking disc.

  The CD jacket is interesting with an array of black and white photographs inside it. Also, as you might expect, all the lyrics are printed. There are other songs about lost love, roads leading home, and the passing of time. All of these songs find Black searching for answers. I loved this disc and I consider it one of the best records I’ve heard this year.

****1/2

- Bill Harriman