Thad Cockrell – Steppin’ out
Stamey’s first impression when first working with Thad was typical, and would turn out to matter considerably. “He was very alive, and very on fire to do it,” the producer recalls. “It took about five minutes in rehearsal to realize that he was really a talent. Even if the first songs were not as mature in some ways, they were great, right off. And then there was his voice. If you’re going to make a record, and have somebody who sings great, that’s one thing that’s going to pull you in.”
Cockrell’s flexible tenor — higher than you’d expect to come out of a young guy who is, after all, built like a wrestler, and more haunting at its best for it — resides in a space many aspiring singers would envy: halfway between the tones of Dwight Yoakam and Ryan Adams, and able to venture in both directions.
Five years after the Triangle locals first heard him, it perhaps should not be that much of a surprise to find what many would call alternative-country-tinged ballads making up tracks 4 through 7 of the new disc. On the laid back “Why Go?”, the occasional resemblance of Cockrell’s singing to that of latter-day Adams is apparent, though without the slightest sense of imitation in it.
The most compelling track on Warmth & Beauty may well be “She Ain’t No You”. The lyric’s setup shows considerable sophistication, offering a singer who writes to his ex to tell her of the new girl he’s found, approved by his family and friends, and treating him better than the ex ever did…and yet: “The truth of the matter/She ain’t no you.”
Cockrell’s quite aware that the self-pitying guy is not behaving so sweetly (“That’s a little vindictive, actually, yes”), and that the listener (or some other singer covering it) could decide that the new “serious” relationship doesn’t even exist.
The traditional thing to do, by country songwriting “rules,” would be to add a turnaround — a response from the old flame or the new one, maybe, or some final revelation about the situation — but that’s not what happens. Some might call leaving us hanging untutored, but the ambiguity adds to the strength of the number in Cockrell’s own rendition.
“No, you’re not going to get the ending there,” he allows. “The thing that’s great about country to me is that it seems like the best representation of real life in song of anything I’ve listened to — and in life, you don’t always know.”
Cockrell does finally return to his hard-core honky-tonk heartbreak two-steppers on the last four cuts of Warmth & Beauty. One probable reason there are not more, he agrees, is that he loves the form so much that he’s been tougher with himself about calling those songs found, ready and good to go.
Stamey describes considerable work on getting the right result on all of the tracks, even though Cockrell was recorded “live in the studio” as a singer as much as 75 percent of the time. “Right away I wanted to record him singing live, because he can do so much that really gets to the heart of a song when he’s sitting there with a band.” Stamey says.
That was true even of a layered countrypolitan track with added strings, such as the Charlie Rich/Ray Charles-influenced closer, “Are You Still Missing Me?” Stamey was inclined to add more of a singing chorus and to have that number lead off the album, but in the course of completing the record, that wasn’t found to fit — part of the process, he says.
On “What’s The Use”, a Willie Nelson-influenced tune essentially self-produced by Cockrell, who’s very comfortable in the territory, there’s the basic Cockrell theme of helplessness in the face of heartbreak — shades of Neil Young and the Hank of “I Can’t Help It If I’m Still In Love With You” simultaneously.
But there’s not a celebratory “Settin’ The Woods On Fire” about a new love that’s here right now, no holds barred, and maybe even permanent. “My thing, always, is that I want to bring great songs,” Cockrell says. “I don’t think that I have achieved it yet, but I want to write undeniably great songs. That’s the first goal. Someday I’ll meet that person, and then I’ll write love songs that are as convincing as these pain songs.”
Some not raised and schooled in the relatively hard-shell Christian tradition may find it difficult to reconcile the “misery index” measured in his songs with the fulfillment of the spirit and peace he finds in his religion. “A frustration with me, growing up, is that a lot of Christians will act like their problems are solved,” he says. “And actually, the reason I’m a believer is because my problems are not — I feel like I’m always in desperate need of help! And if you look at Christ’s life on earth, betrayed by friends, denied — it sounds like country songs to me!”
Because they didn’t seem to fit, one thing we don’t get on Warmth & Beauty is more outright gospel in the vein of “He Set Me Free”, which closed Stack Of Dreams — even though Cockrell has been writing new ones and playing them live, he says. (He also claims to have an album’s worth of bluegrass originals waiting for the right setting.)
Despite his growing success as a singer and songwriter, the personal issue of whether Cockrell will ultimately pursue a career as a pastor or as some flavor of modern country singer has been left dangling, as it has been ever since he arrived in North Carolina.
“And that’s where it’s supposed to be,” he says. “Yeah, it is still unresolved. I just pray about it, you know; I think that God has a direction for my life. Sometimes people fall into the trap of not doing anything, because they’re not sure, but I always say that you can’t steer a car that isn’t moving!”
To which he did not add — but you can work at controlling one that is…even more than may meet your own eye.
ND contributing editor Barry Mazor writes about American Music, on purpose.