Artist:     Tim Gartland

Album:     Satisfied

Label:     Taste Good Music

Release Date:     4.12.2019

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Transplanted Bostonian, now Nashville resident, Tim Gartland, has found Music City to his liking. Satisfied is his fourth solo album, his second since relocating to Nashville. Harmonicist Gartland has progressed from being a blues musician to a well-rounded roots artist who now blends Southern soul and touches of country into his sound. Not only that, he’s addressing contemporary subjects with an ear toward the blues, which he absorbed while immersing himself in the Chicago blues scene after college.

Linking up with producer and keyboardist Kevin McKendree (Delbert McClinton, John Hiatt, Tinsley Ellis, among others), Gartland retains his Boston buddy Tom West on keyboards. McKendree doesn’t totally relinquish keyboards duties, adding his piano, Wurlitzer and organ to four tracks. The supporting cast also includes drummer Jack Bruno (Tina Turner, Joe Cocker), bassist Steve Mackey, and guitarists Robert Frahm and Tom Britt. In-demand Memphis vocalist Wendy Moten adds the soul. All ten songs are written or co-written by Gartland.

Gartland is a gifted harmonica player with a clean amplified tone, who plays with more nuance than fire, whether using diatonic or chromatic harps. He sings with deep but relaxed soul for his well-crafted songs, replete with a sense of humor and catchy hooks. Gartland’s lyrical approach and, to some extent his vocals, evoke Charlie Musselwhite. Somehow, albeit to a lesser degree, the spirit of Delbert (perhaps carried by McKendree) is present as it was on 2017’s If You Want a Good Woman.

Gartland kicks off with “Drinking For Two,” as classic a Nashville-penned title as any, with a shuffling groove for lyrics like “She left the bar just like a shooting star/She broke it off and it’s going to leave a scar/so Mr. Bartender, I need me some elbowroom/I’m a party of one but I’m drinking for two.” Yet, it’s not all lighthearted material as he turns more socially conscious with the soul-blues “Don’t Make More Trouble,” urging us not to reach for the gun because that only makes it worse. He then turns admirer for one of the disc’s strongest tracks, the rock n’ roll burner “Can’t Paint a Prettier Picture.” Humor imbues the closing blues romp “Don’t Judge Me.” Another standout is the reggae-flavored “Why Does the Room Begin to Sway?” with Moten absolutely stellar with her oohs’ and echo choruses.

The song-writing, harmonica-playing Gartland may inevitably be compared to Ray Bonneville but, unlike Bonneville, Gartland’s songs are not haunting and dark. They are usually upbeat, lighthearted, and witty, with a few topical ones for good measure. Nashville is wearing well on him.

—Jim Hynes