Maverick Magazine - Summerbirds Review
"As damn near perfect as you can get. " view full review
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Miles of Music - | Girl from Arkansas
On his third release, Girl From Arkansas, roots troubadour Rod Picott crafts his most intimate and heartfelt recording to date. With an underlying intensity that feels about to break through the tempered pace of each of these terrific tunes, Picott plays it subtle from start to finish. Girl From Arkansas is arranged with such sparse accompaniment you could almost cite this as a solo acoustic disc. But the subtle use of strings, organ, Dobro, electric guitar, bass and lap steel uplift this (mostly) live in the studio recording with finesse and warmth. Tracks like "Kerosene" come from the Tom Waits school of songwriting, but that wouldn't be the first time he's garnered that comparison. Eaglesmith, Springsteen and Earle have been rightly named as well. But Picott's terrific sense of songcraft prevails for sure. He teams up again with pal Slaid Cleaves to co-write the detailed "Wrecking Ball". And multi-instrumentalist David Henry (Cowboy Junkies, Guster) shares credit on "No Love In This Town". - Miles of Music
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Berwick Advertiser - Berwick Upon Tweed, UK | 24th September 2004
Rod Picott | Barrels Alehouse, Friday
"It's a bit of a homecoming for Rod Picott at Barrels tomorrow night. He may well be one of the most respected writers and artists in Nashville (no mean feat to get yourself noticed in that town) but by birth Picott is a Berwick boy. It may be South Berwick, Maine buy what's a few thousand miles of ocean between neighbours.

As an artist, Robert Oermann summed it up best when he described the release of Picott's debut CD Tiger Tom Dixon's Blues in 2001 as 'the birth of a major, major talent'. He will get no argument from anyone who has seen Picott live or heard either that startling debut or its follow-up Stray Dogs. Quite why Picott is critically-lauded - he's written with Fred Eaglesmith and Slaid Cleaves and toured with Alison Krauss - while remaining stubbornly 'underground' is a question that has taxed better minds than mine. It will remain a puzzle until natural justice prevails and he is afforded the popular success his God-given talent undoubtedly deserves.

It would be easy to think of Girl From Arkansas as the culmination of Tiger Tom Dixon's Blues and Stray Dogs and while this latest release sees a less nakedly aggressive and more reflective, mellow Picott, the three are more stages of the same, ongoing journey. On the title track and "No Love In This Town" in particular he's sure of what he wants to say and how he wants to say it, while "Down To The Bone" reveals this to be a less autobiographical but more personal album. Even when he's 'riled' as he is on "Kerosene", he could never be described as an 'in your face performer' he seduces you with the charm and warmth of his writing rather than cowing you with theatrics. Picott's predecessors were the gently acerbic, folk troubadours of the 60s.

Undoubtedly, Girl From Arkansas in particular and Rod Picott in general requires an adult audience to appreciate the music properly, there are no 'fast food' songs here. But it is a recording filled with beautiful moments, listening to "That's Where My baby Lives" is akin to being carried along on a cloud. You're afraid to move in case you break the spell." - Michael Mee
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Fish Records - new album | Rod Picott - Girl from Arkansas
"Rod’s previous two albums have marked him out as one of the strongest writers and versatile performers around; this new disc is equally compelling and guaranteed to reinforce and build on his deserved reputation... Girl From Arkansas is an excellent album; it’s understated and both lyrically and musically intelligent, but most importantly it’s a pleasure to listen to again and again." - Neil Pearson
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Playing Outloud - cd reviews | Rod Picott - Girl from Arkansas
A superb collection of songs written by Rod Picott and recorded without overdubs or tricks by a bunch of excellent musicians. Rod’s natural, slightly husky vocals and guitar work impress from start to end. This is real organic Americana from the opening "Girl From Arkansas" to the closing "The Last Goodbye". Every song is beautifully crafted, both lyrically and instrumentally, and the arrangements are simple but effective. I really can’t recommend this one highly enough... A great follow-up to Rod’s last album Stray Dogs which I also enjoyed - I’d say this is even better." - Peter Ashton



live reviews :.

Americana-UK
Rod Picott - The Musician, Leicester | 14th September 2004
"Rod Picott is a tall lean hunk of presence that dominates the Musician from the moment he sets foot on the stage. Touring to promote his third album, Girl from Arkansas, a quieter and more considered set than his previous two, rather fine, efforts, he splits his sets equally between new and old. His songs have a sparse grit to them that’s particularly noticeable in songs like “Broke Down” and Tiger Tom Dixon’s Blues”, especially when compared to boyhood pal Slaid Cleaves’ more showy versions. His voice meanwhile has a mournful and haunted quality that perfectly complements tales like “Bring It On”s beaten down defiance. He’s clearly having a whale of a time and occasionally there’s a slightly surreal contrast between a big goofy grin and a song like “Stray Dogs”. The new songs are at least the equal of his earlier work, with “Girl from Arkansas” being as good as anything he’s written. Throughout there’s an effortlessness and a lack of "performance" that makes you feel as though you’ve just gotten lucky and stumbled on him singing on a porch somewhere. It’s a privilege to be present on nights like these." - Jeremy Searle
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Evening Post - St. Bonaventures | 16th September 2004
"You felt that he would have kept on singing if he's been allowed. And we would have kept on listening and shouting for more." - Keith Clark
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101 Gig Guide Reviews - British Midlands | 30th September 2004
"...With the likelihood of past nuggets such as "River Runs", trailer trash love song "Circus Girl" and "Torn in Two" putting in appearances, this [Birmingham, UK] has to be well up there on the gig priority list." - Mike Davies
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Get Rhythm - Barrells Alehouse | 24th September 2004
After all this time, I've finally worked out how easy it is to be a professional musician. All you have to do is write and record three great albums and then be able to wear the songs like a second skin night after night. And who was the catalyst for this revelation? Step forward Berwick's own Rod Picott.

If the good burghers of Berwick have any sense (they haven't) then they'll claim that this was a hoemtown gig. Neatly sidestepping the fact that Picott hails from S. Berwick, Maine and not the Northumberland version, we should instantly claim him as our own.

Never was a man in the right place as Picott in Barrels on Friday. The bare stone wall cast shadows that were echoed in his songs. On the wall behind him a perfect silhouette played and sang. So completely did he mesmerise the audience that it appeared that the 'shadow Picott' carried on long after the man himself stopped.

Live, Picott cultivates an 'anti image', the slightly crumpled, lived in suit and raspy voice may have been the result of 12 nights on the road, (Johnny Cash only did six before he made it home) but it fits perfectly the homespun, down to earth music. The man is a blank canvas, his music paint the pictures.

That Picott was among kindred spirits was obvious from the moment he began the night with Wrecking Ball. The words slipped from his mouth like molasses, dark but inviting. There is a rootlessness about Picott, when he sings the likes of Big Mean Men, you can't imagine him being anywhere else or doing anything other than being a travelling musician. As the night wore on he grabbed the audience and held them like rabbits caught in the headlights of songs like Baby Blue and Workshirts and Turpentine. This blue collar Dylan spoke in their language of things they had experience of, they loved it.

Strangely for an artist who has a new album out particularly one as good as Girl from Arkansas, much of the night was taken from Stray Dogs, his second album. He describes it as more dynamic but when he sang Circus Girl the slightly rough and ready exterior and bonhomie, couldn't hide the poet's soul. In fact it brough it into sharper focus.

But Picott is a rounded performer and the audience's affection was not only because of the music, he is as accomplished a raconteur as he is a singer. Quite whether Fred Eaglesmith thinks his driving is as expert is another matter but he released the emotional highs with great good humour. It's difficult to say which highlight was THE highlight. Was Haunted Man, when an eeries stillness descended over the room like a morning fog, any more memorable than Down To The Bone or the hilarious Up All Night (if that's a 'throwaway' song then Picott should pitch in the world series). Or was the family snaphot Tiger Tom Dixon's Blues any greater than Bring It On? The simple answer is that they were the parts that made the whole so wonderful.

But if it's one defining moment you're after, then all I can say is that even if Slaid Cleaves had pulled me out of a burning building, he still wouldn't have got a sniff of Broke Down. That song should be sung by its author and then locked away until the next time, this was the second time I'd heard Picott play it live and both are treasured memories. - Michael Mee