Jim Patton & Sherry Brokus – ‘Harbortowne’ [Album Review]

Austin, Texas-based folk/Americana duo Jim Patton & Sherry Brokus release their seventh long-player, Harbortowne, What began as a sit-in became a musical partnership spanning 40 years.

Along with Patton (vocals, acoustic guitar) and Brokus (vocals, percussion), Harbortowne features special guests BettySoo (backing vocals), Ron Flynt (vocals, bass, keyboards, harmonica, acoustic guitar), John Bush (percussion), Rich Brotherton (acoustic guitar, mandolin), and Warren Hood on fiddle.

Produced by Flynt of power pop band 20/20, Harbortowne was recorded at Jumping Dog Studio in Austin and mastered by Jerry Tubb at Terra Nova Studio.

Discussing the album, Patton shares, “The working title for the album was ‘Pattonville,’ because of a joke our songwriting collaborator Jeff Talmadge made, but it would have worked, too. The characters in these songs definitely are from the world I’ve created in song.”

He goes on, “I originally wanted the album to be like Sherwood Anderson’s (book) Winesburg Ohio or Edgar Lee Masters’ (book of poetry) Spoon River Anthology, a series of seemingly disconnected stories about my town where characters could come and go from song to song. And this isn’t exactly that, though you can still see some of the traces left.”

Highlights on the twelve-track album include the title track, an upbeat, low-slung folk-rock tune featuring Patton’s soft and slightly breathy vocals.

Explaining the title track, Patton says, “Annapolis was the nearest city for us to get in trouble in when we were kids. They were suburban kids, driving their daddy’s Cadillacs. So those are the ‘kids’ I’m picturing going to ‘Harbortowne.’”

A personal favourite because of Patton’s rasping vocals, “Never Going Back” reveals the pull and influence of nostalgia on our lives. Hood’s gentle fiddle gives the tune sweet, charming tenderness. Another excellent track, “Missing You,” exudes tints of melancholy and the constant ache of loneliness for a certain person.

Jim Patton & Sherry Brokus, photo by Winker-With-An-Eye

“And I was lost, but somehow I’ve been found again / Everything moves on in time it’s true  / But that don’t mean that I’m not missing you  / That don’t mean that I’m not missing you.”

Simultaneously a bit boastful and a bit humorous, “Sally Brown,” co-written with Jeff Talmadge, relates the paramours of the narrator, who managed to avoid settling down, which, according to Patton, was “a positive thing for his life, and probably for theirs.”

The final track, “Start Again” reveals the lusciously smoky voice of Sherry Brokus, her first lead vocal since 2019. It’s one of those hauntingly expressive voices that envelope and exude an array of caring emotions and empathy.

At once basic and decorated by complex layers of instrumentation, Harbortowne demonstrates the alluring power of folk music.

Harbortowne Track Listing:

1. Harbortowne
2. The Juggler
3. Never Going Back
4. Lottery
5. Missing You
6. A Woman Like You
7. Slap In The Face
8. Just Doesn’t Work Anymore
9. Sally Brown
10. Back In The Storm
11. Until The Fire Is Gone
12. Start Again

Run Time: 35:42
Release Date: September 20, 2024
Record Label: Berkalin Records