I did a fair amount of traveling the roads of the Midwest on my old job; it is the thing I miss most about those 12 years. A favorite hidden spot I loved to travel through was along the Mississippi River between Burlington, Iowa & Hannibal, Missouri. There were no four-lane highways there when I started my regular trips from St Paul to St Louis. Nowadays there is, it's called The Avenue of The Saints, connecting the two saintly burgs. An old customer of mine (still a dear friend) in Cedar Falls hipped me to the new highway, which is really a collection of different roads that makes the most direct route between the two cities.The 50-cent toll bridge over The Des Moines River at that little pointy corner of extreme Southeast Iowa seemed from a different time. The lack of tourists made this area a secret. The natural beauty of the river & surrounding terrain always seemed magical, especially at twilight, which it always seemed to be when I drove this stretch. Add to that the earthy feel of Keokuk, the stateliness of Quincy, Ill, and the mystique of Hannibal, I savored this journey, and long for it today.
This is the land William Elliott Whitmore is from. His family is a large cadre of outlaws & artists known for throwing some of the biggest & wildest parties in South East Iowa. They really know how to live. His songs reflect his home.
His new LP, Animals in the Dark, is out on the Anti label, home to some other modern-day larger-than-life characters like Tom Waits & Neko Case. Perfect company. William sings like a man at least 30 years his senior, and his voice sounds so soulful & real that he is a true force of nature. His songs on this LP in particular seem so pointedly direct they'll grab you & not let go until they are over. Accompaniment of acoustic instruments on this LP are not only tastefully subdued, but recorded ideally. Little gloss is brushed over this record, and I glad it isn't there. So much beyond the pigenholing his music usually gets, William is the real deal. Perhaps the greatest musical artist Iowa has given us so far. A great LP.
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