Album Review – Jack McKeon – “Talking To Strangers”

#520 and #570.15 (bluegrass, singer/songwriter-inspired Americana on the Country DDS
There are performers, entertainers, and singers who write songs. And then there are songwriters. Jack McKeon is a songwriter, and his elevated command of the craft calls for the calibration of your heart and mind to be open and accepting of advanced concepts on the deeper meaning of life usually reserved for the most talented and revered of the songwriting discipline. Think Jason Isbell, John Moreland, Guy Clark-type territory.
But sometimes, if not often, this higher level of songwriting is met with a secondary or outright careless consideration for the musical accompaniment. For New York State native Jack McKeon’s debut album Talking to Strangers, this is not the case. In a very purposeful effort, McKeon has called upon a cadre of top class bluegrass musicians to bring the sound to his stories. This is a songwriter album, and it’s a bluegrass album.
It’s not that there aren’t any great songs or songwriters in the bluegrass discipline. Of course there are. But writing is usually subordinate to musicianship in the field, just as music is sometimes subordinate in the songwriting field. There aren’t any blazing mandolin runs or fiddle reels on this album. These are still slow and mid-tempo songs indicative of the songwriter world. But the music is distinctly bluegrass.
Talking to Strangers may not distinguish itself as remarkable in the bluegrass world, even though it’s quite well-assembled and performed. But it most certainly is distinguishable in the songwriter realm. It’s not just some of the staggering one-liners McKeon delivers. It’s how he embeds them within stories, settings, and characters that really sell those lines as prophetic, and make you heed them, not just hear them.

“A boy becomes a man when you need a man around,” is the line Jack McKeon delivers in the song “Crooked Teeth” that stops you in your tracks, and it’s not the only one in that song alone. One of McKeon’s specialties is speaking on the dying, decaying, and destruction of things, like the scourge of encroachment and imminent domain in the excellently written song “Highway 29.” This leads into the somewhat similarly themed track “Last Slice of Heaven.”
“Every field is rows of houses just waiting to be built. Ain’t no such thing as empty space ’till you need something to fill,” McKeon ponders. A sense that the future is only the end of beautiful things comes into play in multiple songs, including “Paler Shade of Blue” and the final song, “Love at the End of the World.”
But the album is not all heartbreaking profundities upon the merciless march of time. “Hard Headed” includes just enough dry, self-deprecating humor to keep things interesting. It’s astounding to think this is a debut album. Jack McKeon clearly has the acuity to be crafting these kinds of songs for perhaps many years to come. The bluegrass aspect makes it that much more cool, even if he doesn’t stick to it in future endeavors.
Let’s also tip a hat to the bluegrass pickers on this album, including Ashby Frank on mandolin, fiddle player Christian Sedelmyer, 2023 IBMA-winning Resophonic Guitar Player of Year Justin Moses on dobro and banjo, and 2023 IBMA Bass Player of the Year Vickie Vaughn. But it’s the writing of Jack McKeon and where it takes you that makes Talking to Strangers remarkable and worthy of your time.
8.3/10
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June 26, 2024 @ 2:59 pm
i listened to “crooked teeth”. i’ll be nice and say it’s not for me. in my mind (and heart, and soul) “songwriter” is the loftiest of all goals in music. if you can affect listeners with your words and music, what else is there? that’s just me…
and so, for me, it always gets compared to my idea of the ultimate songwriter, jackson browne. one listen to “late for the sky”, and i was dumbfounded. in my humble opinion, “for a dancer” has no equal. simply stunning.
while jack does create some great imagery, which is what lyrics are supposed to do, i just can’t appreciate some of the words/lines he uses. it could have been done better, i think. again, that’s just my opinion.
i wish jack all the success in the world, cause i love songwriters. i mean, what’s out there now, taylor swift? gimme a break. i’ll see your swiftie, and raise you a james taylor. and i’m not a huge fan of JT. but he’s WAY better than she is as a songwriter. not even close.
once more, all just my opinion.
uh-oh. i hear the swifties coming for me!
June 26, 2024 @ 8:36 pm
Not sure it’s fair to compare anyone releasing their debut album to a songwriting legend like Jackson Browne. It’s similar to when today’s singers get compared to George Jones. Of course they’re not as good or better. But having listened to the whole album, I think Jack McKeon has something special, and as much as I enjoyed this album, I think he may have even better coming up in the future.
June 26, 2024 @ 10:04 pm
you talked me into it. i will listen some more. and, to be fair, JB wrote “these days” when he was 16. that’s just insane. so maybe i’m being a little unfair (probably more than a little), but that’s what he’s up against.
and if you want to bring it into today’s world, it’s hard to top katie pruitt. in my opinion, she’s got it all. the version of “georgia” with the strings is the best thing i’ve heard it quite awhile.
simply exquisite.
so, the competition’s pretty fierce. and again, i wish him well. but thanks for the push, trig. perhaps i judged too harshly too soon. i will listen…
June 27, 2024 @ 6:51 am
this shit is incredible. A lot like watchouse/mandolin orange. Crooked teeth is so fucking good. thanks trigloo
jermey pinnri pz
June 27, 2024 @ 8:33 am
I listened to this album. I agree with the review. I’m not sure that anything grabs me where I am rushing to re-listen though.. I will put it on the list and give it a re-listen soon and see if it grabs onto me more.
June 30, 2024 @ 12:33 am
Love it , thanx for the heads up. That’s the kind of sound i wish Springsteen would adopt for a new album.
July 1, 2024 @ 9:42 am
Thanks for shining a spotlight on this one, Trig!
Should be getting more attention, tremendous freshman effort here.
“Highway 29” floored me. Rare that I say “damn” aloud as a song ends, one of those songs you just immediately replay on your first listen. For anyone that’s dealt with that subject matter or watched families deal with it, that song will hit like a bat. One of my favorite tracks of the year, captured the sentiment perfectly.
July 1, 2024 @ 8:50 pm
Hey thanks for this head’s up, Trigger, this is an interesting album and as others have said I’m looking forward to seeing what he comes up with in the future. His cover of “Past the Point of Rescue” had me digging up the 90’s hit Hal Ketchum had with that song- which I think is pretty much the definitive version- and it finally hit me that this is a deeply creepy song. I used to think it’s just a country weeper about unrequited love- no, the perspective of the character singing the song is obsessive and probably a stalker! Didn’t catch that the first time.
July 2, 2024 @ 6:04 am
*This* is why I come back to this site. It’s not to read the long screeds against the country music industry, warranted as they are. It’s not to read the latest gossip about “Artist A” and “Person B.” It’s certainly not to read comments from readers that in general make me fear for our future.
It’s to be exposed to music like this. Damn, this is good stuff. Thanks, Trig.