New York, NY (Top40 Charts) It�s true, every picture does tell a story. But the photo gracing the cover of Tommy Womack�s new album, Namaste, releasing May 20, 2016, silently hints at a lifetime of stories. Stories Womack is glad he�s still here to tell.
The black-and-white image, by Anthony Scarlati, depicts Womack in profile, head bowed toward pressed-together palms. He is, unquestionably, giving thanks. Thanks to those who showed up to support him that particular night, a fundraiser to help him through recovery from a devastating 2015 car accident. Thanks to whatever powers kept him alive long enough to get clean in 2012 after years of addiction. And thanks for life itself � which he no longer takes for granted, not even for a minute.
But there�s something else the photo conveys, too, in the suggestion of a smile and the crinkled crows� feet almost hidden behind the frames of his glasses. As only the best singer-songwriters can, Womack has always managed to navigate us through his world with a deft balance of humor and pathos, snarky cynicism and occasionally, sweet, unabashed optimism. Like
John Prine and Womack�s pal Todd Snider, he�s the rare artist who can regale us with songs such as Namaste�s �Comb-over Blues,� �Hot Flash Woman� and �When Country Singers Were Ugly� (not to mention such semi-classics as �Play That Cheap Trick,
Cheap Trick Play� and the existential rant �Alpha Male & the Canine Mystery Blood�), then hit us with the anvil of �I
Almost Died,� a harrowing recounting of the time in 2007 when he woke up in an ambulance after his meth- and coke-stressed heart apparently stopped.
Womack had just released his fourth solo album, There, I Said It!, which was supposed to be his music-career swan song after years of frustration, but instead elevated his profile higher. Two weeks after his collapse, he recalls, �I was on the cover of the Nashville Scene and I was the toast of the town. And nobody knew.�
It would take another five years before he felt ready to tackle his addictions, through rehab, AA and the higher power he addresses via a �fuzzy Buddhist Methodist� belief system formed from the vestiges of his preacher�s-kid upbringing in Kentucky.
In fact, death and religion would seem to be two of Namaste�s recurring themes � except that Womack, who�s fascinated by the topic of Jesus the historical figure, not the biblical one, doesn�t exactly embrace the Christian notion of worship. In �God Part III,� he sings, �He�s Jesus with a J now, Lord, Christ The King/A best selling author with advice on everything. He never wrote a word, never started no religion/Maybe never dreamed he�d ever be in this position. My Daddy was a preacher and so am I/I believe in God but now and then I wonder why/I choose to picture Jesus in the clouds up above/I believe in Beatles. I believe in love.�
Oh yeah, Womack makes more worshipful references to the members of that band and other musical touchstones than he does traditional saviors � whether in that song�s outright declaration (and its title, which harks back to the original
John Lennon tune and infamous lyric, and U2�s one-upped take), or in slyer twists of lyrical phrase such as �Plasticine porters with looking glass bolo ties� (from the Beat-poetry-styled �Nashville,� his love-hate letter to
Music City). In �Darling Let Your Free Bird Fly,� he name-checks assorted icons, including Sting, Geraldo and Chevy Chase, who �were all considered cool at one time.�
Womack himself has always been considered cool, from his days in Bowling Green, Ky.�s next-generation punk-rock band Government Cheese to the Bis-Quits, his first Nashville outing with musical brother and Daddy co-founder Will Kimbrough, who plays guitar on Namaste. Womack built further cool cred with his book, The Cheese Chronicles: The True Story of a Rock �n� Roll Band You�ve Never Heard Of.
Along the way, he honed his folky twang and Replacements-influenced rock edge into a sound that�s all Americana, filling seven solo albums and writing songs recorded by Jimmy Buffett, Jason Ringenberg and others, including sometime co-writer Snider. He�s also earned two �Best Song� awards in the Nashville Scene critics� poll, and entertained the community with his
Clash cover band, Tommy Gun, and an occasional event he and co-conspirator Bill
Lloyd called the Alphabetical Kinks.
If the tables were ever turned and Ray Davies did a Womack tribute, he�d likely get a particular kick out of �End of the Line.� Co-written with Rich McCulley � and technically, by album producer Brad Jones, who didn�t want a credit � Womack says, �That song is about pursuit of your dream, and I�ve been pursuing mine for 31 years. It�s been like Ahab chasin� the whale ever since � and knowing that the end of the line is comin�; I�m on the back nine, as a golfer would say.�
Yes, he looks at life differently now that he knows how quickly it could end. And that it�s going to someday, even if he manages to continue avoiding a hastened demise. That�s why the album�s benediction, �It�s a Beautiful Morning,� co-written with John Hadley, sounds so much sweeter. In it, he sings, �I once had the devil hold on to me so/I asked him to free me. He wouldn�t let go/But miracles happen, is all I can say/It�s a beautiful morning. It�s a beautiful day.�
�It�s a song of gratitude,� Womack explains. �God likes prayers that are basically like a thank-you note, being grateful for what you�ve got. A lot of prayers I�ve offered in my years were more like obscene phone calls or ransom notes.�
As Allmusic.com�s Mark Deming once noted, �Womack writes rock �n� roll songs about everyday stuff � falling in love, trying to stay in love, life�s ups and downs of all shapes and sizes � with good humor, a strong dose of common sense, and the smarts to understand when this stuff is funny and when it isn't.�
That�s why his friends turned out that night at
Music City
Roots in Franklin, Tenn. That�s why his head is bowed in a prayerful pose of thanks. And that�s why he titled the album � completed in six days, coincidentally � with that spiritual Sanskrit greeting.
As he sings in the closing tune, �I don�t know what�s coming this afternoon/If I think about it, it�ll get here too soon/Why worry what�s coming, it�ll come any way/It�s a beautiful morning. It�s a beautiful day.�
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