In a big city, it is easy to get lost in among the millions of people. GreenChoby is a folk-rock duo, Carolyn Creen and Mike Choby, who live and work in the heart of uptown Chicago and sing about everyday life in and out of the big city in all its facets, good and bad.
Lyrically everything is fair game. The title cut is about one person's attempt to build community amidst the impersonality of urban life. "Highlight" is a poignant account (without, I must point out, a schmaltzy musical setting) of how Green draws inspiration from a friend's daily struggle against addictions:
Can I just tell you, you were the highlight today
You're looking well and it was so good to hear you say
you're doing OK, doing OK. Four months today.
"October Gifts" celebrates the value of a walk in the woods as a getaway from city life and a means of reconnecting with your loved one. Politics and social justice gets their treatments too: "The Hard Thing" reminds us that "few prefer the option to live justly/unless people of the movement shake the floor." "Sleep Tonight" comes from Green's work in the inner city with Emmaus Ministries. One of the two "extra" songs in the thirteenth track (not identified in the liner notes) deals with relations between native and white Americans from a very personal perspective:
I like to believe
I'm a sympathetic friend
But could I ever know
How it feels underneath your skin?
The musical settings place more emphasis on the folk part of "folk/rock." "Change" "Hope," "The Hard Thing" and "Mercy Rocks" manage to rock out just a bit, but most of the tunes are slower and acoustically dominated. Green and Choby play acoustic guitars and share lead vocals. Choby plays all the bass parts. They are backed by some capable players, Stu Heiss of Resurrection Band and GodZone in particular. Heiss shows he can play electric guitar without power chords, effects pedals, and rapidfire solos.
Green and Choby's voices are pleasant and warm. They harmonize quite well. Green's stylings remind me of a slightly more famous Caroline: Caroline Arends.
This is a very listenable album. None of the tracks stand out particularly, but the totality of the album is solid and honest.
3 tocks
