Shoeshine Blue – Howl At The Wooden Moon

contributor: Hoyt Emerson – May 16, 2009

Mike Apinyakul, a.k.a Shoeshine Blue, is from Missouri.  He likes the blues, he likes Skip James, George Jones and Bob Dylan to name a few.  On his first full scale Portland release, Talk Real Slow, that was evident.  A slow churning 4 track blues opera with everything a purist and hipster could love.  His opinion of that record may surprise you, as he feels there was a lot more that could have been.  Maybe it was the lo fi house style recording, maybe the cut and paste feel of the songs, maybe he just wished there was more cowbell (I always do).  Either way, his feelings towards such a successful home recording really makes you wonder what he has up his sleeve.

So here he is, about to release his second album, Howl At The Wooden Moon.  What progressions will be revealed?  Perhaps more intricate arrangements with full symphonies and gospel choirs?  Will we see a Brian Wilsonesque attempt at a pop masterpiece?  So many questions came to me right before I started listening to the songs.  I allowed the entire album to play through and finish.  I didn’t say a word to myself or anyone else the entire time.  As the final song ended I quietly shut my light off and went to bed.

I woke up the next morning and made coffee.  I poured a cup and sat down on my couch.  As if by an involuntary need I started singing the words “Baby if I had your blues, I’d put on my dancin’ shoes”.  This is the opening line to “Dancin Shoes” from Shoeshine Blues’ new album.  I continued to sing those words for the next hour over and over again.  I finally gave into the incessant repeat and put the actual song on.  It was at this point I realized what Shoeshine has here.  A bonafide, amazing record.

I started the whole CD over and began to sing along as if I’d been listening for weeks.  Starting with “Warm Champagne”, the wonderful opening song that gives us a healthy dose of Talk Real Slow type Shoeshine until the chorus comes along.  Where he would of fallen back to a blues riff on his previous work, he pushes through with a very classic country melody and progression.  Followed with a quick change from 6/4 to 3/4 you immediately begin to see what Apinyakul meant when he felt like his first time around could have been better.  A maturity has evolved in every aspect.  The second song, “1776″, puts Shoeshine comfortably into his literary cockpit.  He starts to push more of his endearing, enigmatic lyric style [You give, give, give, they always ask for more/You dig, dig dig down deep in the devil's core].  Their are no musical surprises here.  Instead he allows us to nestle into our comfort zone and enjoy articulate work from just about every ringer in the Portland Folk/Americana community.  John Vechiarelli on drums, Shawn McCAin from Blind Pilot on violin, Ali Wesley on vocals…the list goes on.

Shoeshine Blue has really found his voice musically and lyrically as well.  That strolling 6/4 time with those scruffy, blues lick vocal melodies.  I think more than any other songwriter I’ve seen and met here in this city, Apinyakul seems to have the most distinct and attractive style to call his own.  These songs aren’t just good, they are completely approachable to anyone and everyone.  It peaks at his holy trinity of songs with “All The Pretty Women”, “Dancin Shoes” and “Famous”.  The latter of those a pleasant surprise and a true gem lyrically [Remember your mama's kitchen, to keep it holy/remember your addiction to your Daddy in the yard].  Keep in mind we are only half way through the album at this point.  Where many albums falter due to “Too Much Music”, Howl At The Wooden Moon is the concise and meticulous mix of one great song after another.  The moods do not change that much, but Shoeshine Blue has a knack for keeping the listener hanging with just the right melodies, just the right length for the song and just enough intimacy and literary prose.  He also has a knack for knowing how to move a group of songs to keep the listener there.  By the time the last third of the album comes up we see a shift musically to a more violen, banjo and waltz arrangement.  “Wooden Room” takes cues from great bluegrass banjo playing and the surprising “The Oldest Dance” is a Russian waltz masterpiece.

Apinyakul gets to his most personal stand point on “Crimson Waxes”.  A modern political anthem that does not take the Dylan nose dive that so many “political” songwriters fall to.  No, this is a beautiful song that takes a hard anti-war stance in a time when everyone is trying to revive the beat poet hippie vibe in their songs.  He does this, and just like fans of Bruce Springsteen and Neil young, regardless of your stance on the subject you can’t help but love this song.  You feel so refreshed at the end, that there is still hope that we can write protest songs in an age of trite and taboo political fervor.

As if by accident, Shoeshine finishes his grand work with a “Bonus track”.  Now I will say that the idea of bonus track has died now that we immediately put our CD’s into itunes.  There is no secret once it is all imported.  While Shoeshine might not of forseen this concept it still fits with the theme of the album.  We are given one last great song at the end of a work that has already proven itself over and over again.  With an absolutely flawless violen solo and finishing at 5:52, “House of Stone” is indeed a bonus track.  Not because we didn’t know it was there, but because we get to see that Shoeshine Blue still had some material to spare.  I will be interested to see what he feels about this record in retrospect.  Because quite frankly, I don’t know what else he could of done to make it any better.