Harden’s brand new CD, the song goes on, is an acoustic all-Keith singer-songwriter folk style masterpiece. The CD opens with the socially conscious “buffalo nickel,” lamenting the loss of the days of the free-roaming buffalos and Native Americans, who we honored on coins, after shooting them and delegating them to reservations. Keith has flavored this collection with dobro, mandolin and banjo, in addition to his normal 6 and 12 string guitars.

This is the record David Crosby or Steve Stills wish they had ever had the fortitude to create. It’s Neil Young meets Pete Seeger, with Robert Zimmerman watching on. John Sayles needs to borrow some of these tunes for his next movie. The beautiful tune “the song goes on” has echoes of a Lennon-McCartney song, but the total winner is “let me lift you up,” which Rod Steward should record if he wants another hit in the caliber of his earlier work.

The star of Keith Harden is still rising on this his 11th CD, and that’s not counting his earlier releases which only came out on cassette and are long discontinued. To grab the song goes on, go to http://www.bpcomp.com/keithharden and you will be well rewarded with great music.

Reviewed by—Phil Strang

This article was written by Phil Strang,
and originally published in The Hub - January 13, 2005

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