"Onward, Young Menonites!!" is the type of album that makes me smile.
It's completely homemade, from the markered-up CD face to the handwritten, photocopied CD insert. But to Brian Whitson's credit, the CD cover and elbow grease that produced it mesh perfectly with the blue collar feel of the album.
Whitson's campfire cowboy vocal style is a comforting mix of emotion, sincerity and intelligence, which more than makes up for his lack of range.
My favorite songs on the disc are "Big Woods Death Grip" and "Ramble On," which are beautifully crafted and recorded with a chorus of chants. Most of the other songs are simply Whitson and a guitar; however there's a beautiful, old school blues piano song entitled, "For the Dead Kids in Lake Bronson," which should be required listening for all publicly educated fifth grade students.
There are moments of pure bliss on this album, particularly on "Ramble On," and the low-fi 4-track production quality is amazingly refreshing in this era of flawlessly-produced CDs. I would've liked to have heard more group singalongs on the record, as they really carry the torch and move the album forward.
I recommend this album to fans of Larry McMurtry's novels and other people who like cowboys.
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