Jon Fox - American Dirt  (click on image to watch video)

 9 February 2020

Jon Fox’s musical approach isn’t a new one. He sings a rocking style of country and writes smart and sometimes funny lyrics. “It Ain’t Rain,” for instance, stomps along stubbornly, while electric guitars twang and steel guitar chimes in and out throughout. It may be a familiar sonic template, but it’s also the sort of rock-influenced country that sucked many of us into the country music sphere in the first place.

Fox is at his best on “Baby Don’t You Leave Me,” which treats an impending breakup like a kind of final straw. This character has had one of those days where seemingly everything went wrong. Losing his girl would be one hurt too many. Could she at least wait until he was having a better day? Fox sings this humorous song over a Tex-Mex-ish groove that includes plenty of acoustic piano and slide guitar. While Fox sings it, you feel for the guy. How much pain can the poor guy take? 

Fox also includes what’s nearly an obligatory outlaw song, concisely titled “Outlaw.” This one is a moody, meditative study of the outlaw life. “Never steal from a poor man,” he advises, “with his back up against the wall.” Just as there is honor among thieves, there is also an honor code – or so we’re told – among outlaws. Of course, It wouldn’t be a working-class country album without a little commentary on modern-day America, and Fox gets his two cents in about the state of his homeland with “My Country.” 

When Jon Fox sings about American Dirt, he’s not just spilling the dirt on his country, though. He has too much of a heart gold to do that.  It’s why he coattails on the Beatles with “Love Is All We Need,” which – when all’s said and done – is all we really need. The “dirt” he’s singing about, is more than likely the soil of his surroundings. It’s what we’re made of, and also what makes us. Jon Fox is merely coming clean about the sometimes dusty, many times muddy stuff of real life.

Dan MacIntosh - Dan MacIntosh has been a professional music journalist for 30 years and his work has regularly appeared in many local and national publications, including Inland Empire Weekly, CCM, CMJ, Paste, Mean Street, Chord, HM, Christian Retailing, Amplifier, Inspirational Giftware, Stereo Subversion, Indie-Music, Soul–Audio, Roughstock.com, Country Standard Time and Spin.com. 

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