SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: CHRIS ROBERTS – LOST AND FOUND

Chris Roberts
Lost And Found
Independent

Many listeners shy away from artists that seemingly work with a set-out formula connected with any given musical genre. Just by sticking to the formula doesn’t get you very far, particularly in the originality department.

Yet, here’s the thing. There’s nothing wrong with respecting a formula if you have it down pat and if you at least add some of your own musicality and imagination, or at least shuffle the formula elements at least a bit. You can actually get some excellent results that way. Aspen, CO resident Chris Roberts and his band certainly respect the formula of what country rock/Americana music should sound like, and that is quite evident on their most recent EP Lost and Found.

 This though would not be enough to make Roberts and band stand out if they didn’t shuffle the elements a bit and add something that isn’t often there.

Still, to do that you do have to know the genre you’re working within inside and out do make even that shuffling work. Both Roberts and the band certainly do. Their musical abilities and Roberts’ excellent vocals are certainly a good starting point, but Roberts here matches the soul/country of Dan Penn (the title track) with some ’70s Southern California sound (“Things Are Changing”), re-interpret the classic country (“Chevy Van”), and spice everything with some mean Garth Hudson-like organs and Jerry Garcia-style guitar licks throughout as a binding agent.

No wonder this is going down so well with The Grateful Dead fans, and it might just as well as with a much wider Americana/country rock audience

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