Bland Lemon Denton – At Earth’s Core
Ramrod Records
11 Tracks – 53 minutes
Bradley Denton is an award-winning science-fiction author and World Fantasy Award Winner in 1995 For his book, The Calvin Coolidge Home for Dead Comedians, which was a collection of horror and fantasy themed stories. Bradley was born in the small town of Towanda, Kansas in 1958. He attended the University of Kansas at Lawrence where received a degree in Astronomy and a masters In English. His first short story was published in 1984 in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Numerous novels, novellas and short stories have followed. His 1992 novella, The Territory, was nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novella in 1993.
He and his wife, Barbara, moved To Austin, Texas in 1988. With the hot music scene in Austin, in 2005 Bradley took up playing blues and roots music. Adopting the persona of “Bland Lemon” Denton, he performed on acoustic guitar, harmonica and sang, initially in SF conferences and gatherings. He proceeded to play in small venues in Austin, writing songs and eventually electrifying his act and adding bandmates. All culminating in this, his debut album. The band fully named as Bland Lemon Denton and the Lemon-Aides consist of Bland Lemon on guitars, harmonica, percussion and vocals, Caroline “Honey Badger” Spector on bass and backing vocals, and Bob “Hollywood Thumper” Yeager on Roland TD-27 V-drums. In a note of thanks, he acknowledges Sherri “Monkey Queen” Dean for her live vocals.
He opens by telling her “I can’t say I believe in God, but I sure believe in sin. If you want my lovin’, baby, what you’ll have to give, I want “Forgiveness”. “If you will forgive me for the funny things I do, then I might forgive you for all the crap you put me through.” On “DNA Blues”, he explains “man was born from trouble, sparks fly up and drift away”. “You know you do silly things. It is in your DNA.” Next, he identifies ” If what you want is all alone, I know you need your metal to start you up. I know you want The Rolling Stones.” “I ain’t no Ronnie, I ain’t no Keith, and I sure as hell ain’t no Mick.” But maybe I Can be your “Charlie Watts”. “I can’t promise satisfaction, but I believe time is on our side. But let’s just spend the night and I will give you shelter.”
“You’ve got me swirling around like a “Marionette About to Drown”. Cut my strings and let me go”. “Let me feel like a real boy…like me like you did when I was still wood”. “The Frozen North” sounds like a song that should close out a movie. He says, “I would follow you about a thousand miles just to see you smile.” “Take me to the frozen north, I will take your place in hell.” “She’s the one that took the jump, I was the one who took the fall.” He begs “Pretty Kitty” “won’t you come down from that tree”. I got a nice, sweet dish of cream if you’ll jump right back to me.” “You won’t have to do anything at all unless you want to catch my mouse”.
“This Machine” rocks out as he declares “This machine was built to last. This machine gets where it’s going fast. This machine ain’t wasting fuel. This machine doesn’t lose its cool. This machine won’t change direction.” “This machine don’t brake for CEO’s or cops.” “Jingle Them Rusty Bells” is not a merry Christmas song as he sings “Deck my empty halls. Slide on down the chimney and the fires will break our fall.” “I need a little spark of joy to light that old yule log.” “Ain’t no peace on this earth or shared good will. Just rolls of fruit cake and we eat our damn fill.”
“Blisters” features his harmonica as he tells “There is just one thing I am sure of, I will return to the earth. Don’t bury me too deep.” “The soil around here is rocky, and you will get blisters on your fingers and your arms.” “There is one thing I am sure of, and that I was your friend. That does not end”. He bends his strings on “Core of the Earth” as he reports “You didn’t throw me down the hole, you brought a silver spade. I guess I keep digging straight up to find my grave. Try to find redemption, we ain’t got the blood it’s worth, but we are stealing all the diamonds down at the core of the earth.” A bonus demo version of “Forgiveness” originally recorded in 2013 concludes the album.
Bland Lemon switches from acoustic to electric guitar easily. Nothing flashy, but just steady rolling guitar with an occasional flash of harmonica making a very pleasant listen. His vocals also draw you in as he says in song, certainly not Mick Jagger, but comfortable easy listening maybe in the vein of Gordon Lightfoot as his songs move along in roots music somewhere between folk and blues. And as can be read in the sample lyrics provided above, his songs are frequently humorous with his tongue deeply in his cheek and with the occasional dollop of double entendre. All in all, an enjoyable way to pass an hour.
