Same River Twice

Album Review

Poverty, rather than inspiration, prompted Darryl Purpose to record his second album, Same River Twice (originally released as darryl PURPOSE), in a continuous 60-minute take with just his voice, his guitar, and Daryl S.'s violin. Sometimes, financial constraints can be an artist's best friend: Same River Twice is a remarkably consistent effort from a singer/songwriter who was only a year into his professional career when it was recorded. Its songs are more than capable of withstanding the warts-and-all scrutiny exacted by the minimal setting; in fact, the intimacy only strengthens them. Though Purpose, a cowboy hat wearing former blackjack pro with a truck driver's haircut and a body like John Popper, could pass for a country singer, his songs' reflective sensitivity and his fretwork's eyebrow-raising speed place him firmly in the folk camp. Tinged by a slight southern drawl, his baritone shifts between gentle James Taylor smoothness and a husky nasal tone that recalls Van Morrison when he lets it rip (as on "Cherokee" and "What Was I Thinking"). Purpose also displays an unfailing melodic ear and a sculptor's eye for detail, particularly on "Mr. Schwinn," a moving and whimsically worded story about a lonely bike repairman set to a brisk, cyclical fingerstyle riff that suggests spinning bike wheels. Daryl S.'s warm, skillful fiddling is all the embellishment Purpose needs. Same River Twice finishes with a cover of Kevin Faherty's clever tribute to prematurely departed songsmiths, "Singer/Songwriter Heaven," which imagines a celestial stomping ground for the likes of Harry Chapin, Graham Parsons, Mark Heard, and Nick Drake. Purpose has made a surprisingly strong case that he deserves a place among them.