Braxton Keith writes and sings about drinking, loving, losers, and other familiar classic country themes in a squeaky voice with a twang that sounds made for the juke box. He can convincingly act the fool and/or cry tears in his beer, depending on the song and the mood. The title of his new release, Real Damn Deal, suggests he’s the real deal, but his authenticity is purposely insincere. Keith understands the importance of a good façade. He understands there’s more truth in a good lie than in telling things straight.
The first-person narrators of his story songs claim to be patient, understanding, hurt, and ready for a good time, but their tales generally proclaim the opposite. Life’s funny that way. The man who brags, “I am running a few minutes late; my previous meeting is running over. Ain’t Tryin'” certainly is. The woman who “Don’t No More” already did, and the broken-hearted lover may be looking at “White Walls”, but all he sees is her picture in his mind.
Sometimes the material’s contrary nature is funny, especially in the tall tale “I Own This Bar”. In this song, the woman enters the bar and claims drinking is against her religion, she’s saving herself for marriage, and the Maserati out back is her car. The singer counters by pretending he is really Billy Graham, John Wayne, and Dale Earnhardt. The song ends with a moral: “you can’t BS. a BS’er” and a happy ending. She pretends that someone stole her credit card, and he happily pays for the drinks and asks if she wants another. One presumes they will be a good match for each other.
The sadder tracks concern heartache, but the causes are never quite clear. We might know that a love has turned cold, that a partner has been unfaithful, or even that one person left the other behind, but the particulars and the backstory remain unstated. The presumption is that the singer never knows. He just feels the pain. That’s at the center of weepers such as “Hurt By Heart”, “I Dreamed of You Dreamed of Me”, and “That’s How Hearts Get Broken”.
Keith did not write or even co-write all the songs on the record. He has a distinctive style that makes them his, which strangely, is the result of making the material sound like classic country from previous eras. The more generic, for lack of a better term, the more original and noticeably personal the songs sound. He sounds new by sounding old-fashioned and being young.
There are two notable covers, Jim Lauderdale‘s tale of patience and longing, “Mr. Green” and Roger Miller’s cleverly maudlin “Am I All Alone (Or Is It Only Me)”. Both versions demonstrate the singer’s ability to recapture the original sentiments by keeping things simple. These tracks blend in seamlessly with the rest.
People in the United States are living in serious times of war, political divisions, rising racism and anti-Semitism, and a whole litany of troubles. One wouldn’t know that by this album. Braxton Keith’s charm lies in part in his ability to keep things light. Let’s sing about love, cheating, drinking, and forget about our heavy concerns. This is country, not Americana. Let the steel guitars and fiddles ring. It is a welcome relief in and of itself.