Guy Clark - Workbench Songs

A Guy Clark CD is like a Land’s End shirt. It’s good quality, it’s comfortable, and you know it will be around for a long, long time.

Workbench Songs is just Clark’s 11th release in 36 years. That’s because Clark is a master craftsman. He does not rush his songs in order to meet a deadline. He works on them and refines them until they are tiny gems, shining brightly amidst the cheap trinkets that receive country radio airplay today.

Workbench Songs is full of such gems. What is so amazing is that that after just a couple of plays, the listener will think some of the songs as Clark classics. Clark is such a masterful storyteller that his tales feel as familiar as they do exquisite. The slow and beautiful “Out in the Parking Lot” paints a picture of a nightclub parking lot, complete with people fighting (“Now there’s a couple of cowpokes puttin’ up their dukes/There wasn’t much to it after both of them puked.”) and screwing (“Oops, there’s a couple could not wait to get home/They’re probably in love so let’s leave them alone.”) “Funny Bone” would not be out of place on a John Prine CD. It is a depressingly humorous song, in which Clark talks, not sings, the story of a rodeo clown whose ex-girlfriend didn’t just break his heart, but also killed his ability to laugh.

And there is so much more. “Magdalene” offers beautifully gentle guitar fingerwork. “Analog Girl” tells the story of a girl not ready for the digital age (“Now she gets online out in the backyard/Hangin’ up her ol’ blue jeans.”). And, of course, there is the obligatory cover of his friend, the late Townes Van Zandt. In this case it is a heartfelt version of “No Lonesome Tune.”

With a rugged voice that sounds like God after a very long day, Clark literally breathes life into all his characters. Although he co-wrote almost all the songs with various other friends, they are all ultimately his songs and his alone, crafted out of love and sweat.

Guy Clark plays with Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt, and Joe Ely as part of the Songwriter’s Tour at the Tabernacle. January 27th. 8 PM. $55. Find tickets