music

Hal Ketchum

Father Time

Sometimes placing limitations on yourself can be a good thing—if you can transcend them, the results are often inspired. So Hal chose to record his new album over two days, fronting a hand-picked group of top-shelf musicians and recording the results on old-fashioned two-track analog tape. Hal steps up to the challenge with a set of solid, mostly self-penned songs (plus a convincing cover of Tom Waits’ “Jersey Girl”) and performances that are uniformly lively, committed and charming. Father Time is an unvarnished reminder of an oft-overlooked talent.

• October 6, 2008
• by Chris Neal