Music Review: Brother Galen’s On the Way
Self-proclaimed “street country troubadour” Brother Galen’s newly released album is a surprising and welcome escape into an enchanted forest of Americana you didn’t know you needed.
Brother Galen’s On the Way album artwork, 2021.
When I recently stumbled upon Brother Galen, aka Galen De La Cruz, I was smitten and mesmerized from the first notes of On the Way. Released in January of this year, this album is the work of an Arkansas-born and self-proclaimed “street country troubadour” who’s spent many years busking in Greenwich Village in NYC after working on an oil rig for two years. As each song gently rolls by, I can vividly envision not only that remoteness, adrift on a massive machine presumably with no land in sight, but a longing for that very land—the forests, the open plains and roads, a palpable sense of longing enveloped in the comfort those places, sounds, smells, and people evoke for him, and perhaps have kept him going.
That’s pretty much all I knew about Brother Galen going into this article. A Google search has turned up scant scraps of information, but all else eludes me, including the inspiration for the album, where it was recorded, whether he plays every instrument or if guest musicians helped him out (*see updated info from his label at the end of the article). I do know that, on the majority of tracks, singer-songwriter Leslie Stevens provides harmonies that vibrate, chime like a bell, and color both in- and outside the lines with perfect texture and pitch. And I can certainly attempt to describe to you what it’s like to listen to his music—possibly all you really need to know about this beguiling artist.
Many of the songs on On the Way are rooted in a steady, peaceful acoustic guitar and what sounds like a dreamy, Hawaiian-dobro style electric slide lending a warm, loping, swinging-in-a-hammock-type vibe mixed with just a touch of Roy Orbison’s pixie-dust—which I’m all-in for. But I think my favorite song on the album is “Thinkin’ of You” and all its unexpected surprises. Featuring an electric slide guitar, bongos, acoustic guitar, and the perfect harmony of Leslie Stevens and Brother Galen throughout, the electric slide flits between a sound like running a damp finger around the rim of a crystal glass and then a kind of rockabilly tumble moments later, all making its entrance at the one-minute mark. The lyrics point clearly to thoughts of a certain someone, a someone who broke his heart:
Keep it up and you won't miss a beat
We'll end up where broken hearts meet
If you wanted a close call, well you should have brought all your arms
The farther away I feel from you, it's the truest shade of blue
And something keeps me thinkin' of you.
I picture him floating on a makeshift raft down a river that runs along at a steady clip, dodging jutting rocks and fallen tree limbs as he tries to leave it all behind him:
Well the sun may burn my skin
And this fight may lay me down
But you know it'll rise again
And you know I'm gonna fall
So take my hope and tie it to a leaf
Tell Cupid to shoot lightly
Then later:
Phenomenal feelings on the wings of a bird
I've been through healing where your voice was barely heard
And the highway glimmers blue
It's the farthest I've been from you.
And then there’s the effing bongo solo that comes out of nowhere after this verse. You’re subtly aware of its undercurrent before the solo, but then all else falls away to allow it to swing its hips. On paper, would you think that bongos are Americana? Maybe not. But it absolutely works here and may be my favorite part of a song that has been on a steady rotation for me over the past few weeks. Each time the drums rumble up, as if it were stirring up silt from the bottom of that river, it feels like the emotional grounding he seeks, this thrill of not knowing what lies ahead and finally being ready for it.
The title track, “On the Way”, is another of my favorites. It bears a remarkable resemblance to the overall sound of Neil Young’s Harvest Moon album, which is in my top whatever-number of favorite albums ever (please don’t make me pick my favorite albums because the decisions are utterly debilitating). The lyrics blend the urge to escape the seemingly endless existential conflicts of modern life with an old-time, righteous yet damned outlaw sensibility:
Remember me on the cloud
Where I am singin' all the time
For my lover and my crime
Where you and I do not exist
Something else will live
Way out on the open plains
And through the odyssey in our veins
Take it down to the well
Where the muse sings so well
Take it up to the hill
Where no man shall be killed
“Chocolate Gravy” is another highlight of the album for me, with a gritty blues and country-rock feel that could file down your teeth, followed by the eerie, bittersweet sleepwalk-of-a-ballad, “Stranger You Know.” For me, this whole album is like wandering through an enchanted forest, rumbling down a river, and soaking up the stillness of whispers and disquiet of wails shooting across the lonely, vast open spaces of Americana I didn’t know I needed. Perhaps because the album was released this past January, there’s a strong sense of fading autumn into winter that adds a visceral ambiance to what we’re in the midst of.
While I can’t seem to find tour or performance information on his website (or anywhere, really), keep an eye out for upcoming shows by visiting Brother Galen’s website: https://www.brothergalen.com/; follow him on Instagram: @brothergalen; and listen to his music on: Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp!
Update as of 3:30pm 11/2/2021: Brother Galen’s label, Pre Raphaelite, told us that he’s gearing up to walk across the country for his upcoming, as yet unannounced tour in an effort to go-green and help stop the destruction of the environment. Stay tuned!
Album info update: Brother Galen’s label, Pre Raphaelite, just sent over some clarifications!
Produced by: Ben Tolliday and Brother Galen
Recorded live in LA at Whispering Pines
Contributing artists: Leslie Stevens, “Lucky” Paul Taylor, Brett Farkas, Heath Cullen, Brett and John of We Are The West, Savannah Jo Lack, Ethan Long, and Kelsie Wilber.
Album photography: Galen De La Cruz
Album design: Edward Dale
Jaclyn Nott. Photo credit: Cody Weber.
The graphic designer, webmaster, writer, and editor for the Adventures in Americana site, Jaclyn Nott enjoys a wide range of music—and Americana is just one of many favorites. Her main hustle is grant writing, content writing/editing, and web design, but her true passion is screen- and creative writing.
