Artist: John Dyer
Project Name: “Gostay Play”
Artist Site: John Dyer

First of all, I need to extend an apology to John for taking so long to review this disc. I just needed some time to live with it and let it soak in a bit so I could better articulate how I felt about “Gostay Play”.

It’s really cool. (pretty articulate, huh?) The first cut ‘Airtime’ grabs you and lets you know that John is the real deal. His vocal is engaging, and the production offers just enough ear candy here and there to allow the listener to discover new things down the road. Nice.

The third cut, “Nick”, has a very airy, yet haunting tone to it- and “Nick” is mentioned in past tense, so I dug through the liner notes for more information. What I found was a perfectly worded paragraph explaining who Nick is, and was- both to the world and to John himself. Flat out some of the most touching words I’ve ever read on the inside of a CD. I’d like to share it with you:

NICK (a song for Nick Drake)

Nick’s sister had said that he was “born with a skin too few”. He died at the age of 26 from an overdose of prescribed antidepressant drugs. It’s unknown whether it was intentional or accidental. By his be lay the book “The Myth of Sisyphus” (you pushed the rock to top of hill). He had an elaborate, original and beautiful style of picking. It was said that he would sometimes go for drives until the car ran out of gas. Time has been good to his music. Nick’s work is more appreciated now than it was in his lifetime. Sadly, he felt he had failed to reach his audience. I just wanted to tip my hat to Nick & thank him for all the songs he did leave behind- which will never die. I don’t think his music would touch me so if he were born with a suit of armor.

Dyer managed to present the song “Nick” with many levels of appreciation, at first listen it’s simply a good song about a guy named Nick; yet you get the feeling the rivers run cold and deep.

In my opinion, John Dyer has the potential to influence people the same way Nick Drake has influenced him. I hope this potential is heard by the industry and John is given the resources and support to give us more of what he has to say. I was thoroughly impressed by him, his songs, and his album.

"Licensed from Chris Mara"