By Ken Paulson
Buddy Mondlock is part of a rich singer-songwriter tradition. His songs – like those of Nanci Griffith, Steve Goodman and Guy Clark – tell stories and create characters in a truly compelling and realistic way. By the end of a Buddy Mondlock album, you feel as though you’ve met a half-dozen new people.
Filmanent, produced by Brad Jones, offers up a new cast. The title song explores the dark side of sudden fame and success, recalling a young girl “who sang everyone off the stage,” burned brightly and then burned out. The narrator, who was unable to help her, laments that “a filament is a fragile thing.”
There are the lost relationships of “Come Back First” and “Problem Solved,” as well as the “Ticket-taker Blues,” the poignant tale of a man who moves through life as a spectator.
Not all of the characters are fictional. There’s “Jackson Petty,” the true story of Mondlock’s great-great-grandfather, who as a Missouri farm boy hid prone in a corn field to avoid being conscripted by either side.
“The story of Jackson Petty has been in my family for generations, and I actually wrote the song some time ago,” Mondlock told St. Louis Public Radio. “But it never seemed to be the right time to record it until now.”
It’s wonderful to hear Mondlock’s own version of “The Dark,” a song written with Guy Clark, who put it on his 2002 album of the same name. It’s a mediative piece, largely spoken in a hushed voice, reminiscent of the way Clark recorded it more than two decades ago. And like Clark’s earlier recording, this track closes out the album. Only silence can follow this hushed reflection and the sound of crickets under a night sky.