The World Will Break Your Heart
Self-Released, 2020
8/10
Listen to The World Will Break Your Heart
A singer-songwriter and musician, Gary Van Miert cut his teeth playing in nightclubs around New Jersey, Manhattan, Brooklyn, etc. Known primarily for his live show and sometimes unorthodox venues (i.e. cemeteries, lumberyards and mansions), as The Sensational Country Blues Wonders! he tips his hat to the legendary outfits from the golden age of gospel, while meshing country and blues into the equation.
“Second Fiddle To A Steel Guitar” starts the listen with Miert’s welcoming, inimitable vocals guiding the melodic, honky tonk fun that does bring in fiddle and lap steel, and “I’m Afraid Of Every Goddamn Thing” trims the pace back with a warm Americana spirit.
At the midpoint, “Double Barrel Blues” moves with a playful ragtime approach of bright keys, soulful tuba and bouncy instrumentation, while “Love Murders Your Heart” resides in rootsy territory as some not so upbeat wordplay is met with punk inspired songwriting. “I Won’t Change Anything”, one of the album’s best, then offers meticulous, memorable song craft with strings amid nods to Nashville and Memphis.
Near the end, “My Baby Stabbed Me With A Steak Knife” recruits some blues influences into the vivid storytelling present on the murder ballad, and “Privilege” exits the listen with plenty of emotion as a stirring finish suits the well thought out album nicely.
This is Miert’s first album of originals (a covers album surfaced in 2012), and he had to get creative to make it by sending guitar and vocal demos to Nashville Master Tracks with instructions on what other instruments he wanted added in. Certainly atypical, but with his live show on hiatus now, it works quite well on this loose concept album about situations that may break your heart, but that you’ll have a lot of fun listening to.
Travels well with: Buck Owens And The Buckaroos- A Merry Hee Haw Christmas; Bobby Bare- Great American Saturday Night