Richard Shindell

“Valley Advocate / Northampton
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
 
Richard ShindellNot Far Now(Signature)
 
This record may be the best release of the decade. Richard Shindell is the master of point-of-view, sometimes playing the dispassionate observer, but often inhabiting the very soul of one of his characters. In "A Juggler Out in Traffic," he's the holy fool entertaining the self-absorbed; in "One Man's Arkansas," he's the American Dream gone busted and looking for the survivor's edge. Those who caught Shindell at the Iron Horse last November heard him sing "Balloon Man" as a work in progress; hear it as a finished product and you'll understand how editing transforms goodness into greatness. Shindell wraps his poetic vision in moody, moving arrangements. The thinking man's folk singer has just raised the bar. —Rob Weir”

— Rob Weir

“Shindell is a master builder of songs, yet always leading listeners toward the emotional essence of the moment or character he is evoking. As with all master craftsmen, knowing what to leave out is as important to him as what he puts in. Shindell has uncanny sense of the theater of a song, building his ballads sparely and subtly, set to sweeping graceful melodies.”

— SCOTT ALARICK, The Boston Globe

“[His] fifth studio album, "Vuelta," offers an impressive assortment of vivid portraits, tunes that entrance with their supple acoustic flows just as surely as they bite into elements of modern sociopolitical debate.”

— THOMAS KINTNER, Hartford Courant

“Although he is living thousands of miles way, Richard Shindell's music continues to be ensconced in his homeland, and with Vuelta he adds another brilliant volume to his rich musical library of American folk”

— Aaron Latham, All Music Guide

“Disturbing, beautifully drawn portraits of frantic losers - a stockbroker bribing a pharmacist, a failed family man committing suicide in a hurricane. Balancing the lunacy is an exhilarating Celtic reel and a heavenly tune about a nun changing a tire. A quiet grabber.”

— Alanna Nash, Entertainment Weekly

“Shindell is a master of subtle narrative; his "Fishing" may be the best, if not the only, song ever written about an interrogation from the viewpoint of the law officer.”

— James Ring Adams, Wall Street Journal

“A tour-de-force of brilliantly crafted songs, passionately delivered  songs that consistently create three-dimensional visual and emotional images which move through the listener's mind's eye.”

— Stereo Review

“Shindell tells great stories with an eye for critical detail while never losing sight of the big picture. He works a well-worn stretch of singer-songwriter pavement, but his wonderfully spiritual lyrical sense and intimate compositions ultimately distinguish him.”

— No Depression

“Richard Shindell works impressive alchemy with the plainest, most primal American pop melodies.”

— Glen Hirshberg, LA Weekly

“Occasionally an artist has a night that makes even skeptics think, 'OK, maybe he is the best.' Richard Shindell achieved this on Thursday at the Bottom Line. His set list highlighted only strengths, his voice never wavered and his band flawlessly accentuated his songs. Like two other "best" singer-songwriters, Bruce Springsteen and Lucinda Williams, he dwells on big, often difficult moments in the lives of ordinary people. By staying with them even as he flies into metaphor, he maintains equanimity...”

— ANN POWERS, The New York Times