Album Review: This Ones For Friends and Family: Acoustic Tales of Years by Kaiser Solzie
James Jackson, AKA Kaiser Solzie, began his journey in 2010 by traveling the country and playing his music for all who would listen. Amongst those songs, “the kid with the guitar” told stories of his travels in the hope to inspire others. Over the years, he has kept it going with a rotating lineup of friends and family. His latest release, This Ones For Friends and Family: Acoustic Tales of Years, was put out in November of 2022.
The acoustic album starts out with the track, “ATL." The Kid with the Guitar gets to work and begins to tell his story. A song seeming about his time spent on the streets of Atlanta, a deep sense of emotion unfolds. "If you're on the road and all alone and no seems to care, you'll find who your true friends are then" is a line that radiates truth for me.
My head started to bob to the opening riff of "Finding the Line." Kaiser Solzie has a colorful background and has had his share of hardship. He uses those experiences and channels them into his songwriting. That was the most evident in this song and the instrumentals were my favorite on the album.
"If I Could" is a catchy song nearing the end of the album and I found myself humming it long after writing this review. Regrets with how we handled situations or of things we wished we hadn't said are a part of everyone's lives. The guitar bridge matched the ear worm of lyrics and blended into a great tune.
The album ends with the track, "Misery." The entire album has a running theme of "finding your way" and this song is no different. Times are hard for a lot of people right now and many times we walk around with smiling faces and sad eyes. We all just want to be free of our misery.
Follow Kaiser on all streaming platforms and look for him opening for Chuck Ragan for three dates across New York in May.
Breezy McMullen is the Editor in Chief for Beyond the Pit. She also co-owns Allegedly Records and Punk Box and is a founder of the Scene to Scene co-op. When she's not herding children and musicians - you can find her in the woods or on a lake getting stoned....probably.
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