Jerry Vandiver Releases The Middle of Somewhere
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If you have followed alone for awhile, you’ll know that I’m a big fan of Jerry Vandiver. I also consider him a friend. We paddled the Rio Grande together several years ago and have been on several other paddling trips together. He recently put out a new album of paddling-related songs called The Middle of Somewhere.
In the past, I’ve interviewed Jerry and you can read that interview here. I’ve also reviewed his Every Scratch Tells A Story album.
When you consider all things, I’m not really a music reviewer. I know what I like when it comes to music, and sometimes I can tell you why, but I’m not a sophisticated music reviewer. Putting that out there, I do like this new album. It reminds me of the happy and fun songs on his other albums, such as Too Many Boats or That’s What Winter Is For on Mixed Dry Bag. Or like More Than a River or Too Tired to Start a Fire on True and Deep: Songs for the Heart of the Paddler. But it really reminds me of the classic Jerry Vandiver that we got on Every Scratch Tells a Story.
The album starts out with The Middle of Somewhere which is a fun song about getting lost in the middle of nowhere but that’s really somewhere. Then it goes into My Other Car, which is a funny song about a canoe being better than a car. The next song is Not Enough to Bail, which he wrote part of on the Rio Grande Trip that I was on with him. It’s a fun song about just carrying onward and not letting things get you down. The album shifts a bit with a blues song and a song sung by kids and then we get back to classic Vandiver with a song called That’s What Raindrops Do. You’ll be singing along with this one. The next song is another with kids joining along singing about Out There with My Dad. The album then shifts again to It Was Great which describes how great a trip can be when it totally sucks. Everyone who paddles will relate. Then the songs slow down and finally end with Jerry singing Out There with My Dad.
Overall, this is an enjoyable album that I’ll listen to for a long time. Highly Recommended.
Buy It From Amazon: The Middle of Somewhere
p.s. the album cover is my shot of Jerry’s tent on the Rio Grande River.
Bryan Hansel
Bryan Hansel is a freelance writer, award-winning photographer and a former American Canoe Association L4 Open Water Coastal Kayaking Instructor. His home port is on Lake Superior in Grand Marais, Minnesota. He also teaches photography workshops.
One Comment
Tom
I like his music, too. Great that a talented songwriter is a paddler and composes about it. Great photo for the album, by the way.