I was taken aback by the multitude of performers with languishing careers while attending the Folk Alliance International Conference in 2017 and 2018. Dozens of musicians forecast as can’t-miss stars in previous decades played poorly-attended showcases for handfuls of distracted DJs and music journalists.
The Kansas City musician Scott Hrabko knows the score. He doesn’t pretend to be a fresh-faced greenhorn. Sounding precisely like what he is- a well-read, middle-aged Midwesterner- Hrabko displays relaxed maturity on his new album The Wonderful World of Scott Hrabko & The Rabbits.
Hrabko and his cohorts compare favorably to heavy hitters on the unassuming recording. “RSVP” evokes the outsider sounds of Captain Beefheart and Tom Waits. “Los Estados Destrozados” recalls the hard-knock songs of Mark Eitzel. “The Bells” is in the harrowing tradition of Townes Van Zandt.
The playful “UFOhio,” the lovely instrumental “North Star,” the solid punchlines of “Punch Drunk Mosquito,” the funk goof “Are They Friendly Spirits” and the demented yacht rock of “Dog in the Backyard” forestall folk fatigue. Even so, consuming all 22 songs on The Wonderful World of Scott Hrabko & The Rabbits in one sitting is taxing.
Performances are a different matter. Should I find myself at another folk conference, I’ll avoid sets by delusional singer-songwriters who dream about joining the likes of Ray LaMontagne on the theater circuit. Instead, I’ll turn my attention to hardscrabble realists like Hrabko.