On Brave Leopard, the new album by Bruce Lister Welch
Six string saint of sweet song Bruce Welch brings forth his new album.
Richard Turner’s beautiful cover picture matches the art and craft
That’s within As the gentlest of men strums up strong for all of the things
He believes in, calling to us all to find nature and nuture what’s wild;
Then we’d win. Opener Planet Z Jackson Browns and also John Hiatt’s
As the bucolic becalms and then charms us with suitably crunchy
Guitar, reminding us of the taste in the air that stays strawberry sweet
When we wish for better times, better places. The song is a prayer.
Like Imagine and it soothes us at once, sealing scars.
Only when the spaceship descends will we truly find our ascension.
Save Us Now seeks dimension in what we have now rendered flat.
As we have come to a point in which only balladeers can forewarn us
Singing of wracked times of ruin and all the spent secrets which seem
To have fallen so far from the hat. And yet Welch’s singing stirs, soothes.
You can hear the humanity in it. There is rhyme, resignation as well
As the need to reform. Fly Eagle Fly blackbirds in, beautifully picked,
Pecking sagely. As the Child of God in acceptance can remind us
Of all of the things that were sworn. Such as peace, perfect peace,
And the calm storms are scared of. Welch is there, waiting, watching
And in the most caring of ways he still warns. He summons McTell
And Maclean, Crosby and Stills, even Diamond. He songs are cut then
On fires which turn to steam as he strums. On a clear night, ashes fly
Miniature birds bound for heaven. Bruce’s strings are all winging,
Noura Sanatian’s violin is soon souring and have heart and mind
Beating beside your own inner drum. Dear Earth duly calls for right
And rectitude to grow over all that we’ve squandered thanks to
Ettie Squier’s own verse. As Bruce bemoans his bewares over
Melodies all can master, as from strings he drips sugar onto
A world in which in all conscience things could not get any worse.
Jess Scott rocks on Fight, beside Bruce as belief burns through
Strumming. Its Over it seems to me eulogises more than mere
Love but all truth. As this troubadour tries to appeal for care,
Cure and comfort. Only songs as such truly capture this yen
And this yearn: playing’s proof. Bruce Lister Welch becomes
Friend which is not always the way with a singer. Some may
Impress you. Others may stir, or carouse. But Bruce brothers you,
Because of the regard and respect his songs offer. He does not
Need to stun you, instead the master musician he is just allows
The chorus of company made when you can in a sense inhale
Music. Michael and each song served now convey this. The guitar
Patterns are ghostly and in touching the heart, souls are saved.
Or searched for at least as each song weaves love’s lost
Fabric. Seven Stars Broughton’s in, perhaps with a touch
Of Bill Nelson, and Small Small Word sees our measure,
When shining through as we try. To be better, or best the world
We’ve made’s sliding standards. Bruce in tapping his foot lifts us
Up by our bootstraps and teaches those with their heads
In the sand how to fly. The Ship Sailed On seals the deal.
Sanatian’s strings send us further, as we Martin Carthy,
And Thompson, Nicol no doubt and McColl. Each chorus
Of course calls for change, with each verse a vow rearranging
The unnatural order into one which can travel and transport
Us all without toll. Wish You Were Here talks to all who are lost
Or not with us. Whether out in the wild or through silence
When we no longer know what to say. ‘Listen to the Lion’
Van sang, well here is Bruce Lister Welch as brave leopard,
Eyeing us all. He won’t hurt us, and better than trying to bite,
He will play for a new world, new plain, new forest, new city,
Be it real, or imagined. The world is wildfire. So, play this gentleman.
Change today.
David Erdos, 5/11/25
https://brucelisterwelch.bandcamp.com/album/brave-leopard
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