I first heard these songs at a concert shortly after I interviewed Scotland Barr in the spring. We discussed his recent diagnosis and the album he was writing and recording. At the concert, we chatted about our experiences living in Santa Cruz (my old hometown) and Portland (my adopted home). Although I had been hoping to hear my 
favorite tracks off of All the Great Aviators Agree, he only played his new songs and I was blown away. The songs were less boisterous, mixing in more ballads with the folk and country rock. When I first heard these MP3’s they were just the teaser for the great double album that the concert promised. I couldn’t wait to hear it in its entirety and was looking forward to a follow up interview upon its release. Then he passed away and the songs changed, suddenly gaining a deeper emotional resonance.
Although Barr said that he’d written most of the songs before his diagnosis, its impossible not to hear a man looking over and assessing the span of his life. “Eyes Like LA” (MP3) sets the tone with warm ringing guitars, plenty of country harmonies, and the offhand but poignant line “They say there’s no way that I could go so soon.” A piano leads the slow and reflective “Rasputin and Me” (MP3), a look back over Barr’s life, through the places he lived and the people he loved. The sentiment is summed up in the line “What really got me, wasn’t how old we’d become, but was how young we used to be.” “Everybody Knows” (MP3) is the most upbeat of the bunch, built around a barroom sing-along-inducing chorus and funky keyboard bridge. The EP closes with the epic “Right Where You’re Supposed To Be” (MP3), a song beginning with the joy of performing and ending in contentment.
The rest of the band is now soliciting donations to help pay for recording and mixing the rest of the album. Judging from these four songs, it’s a worthwhile investment.
Track listing:
Scotland Barr and the Slow Drags: website | myspace | interview
