Campfire may be an apt title for this release. That's the kind of music, lyrics, and performance to be found here. It's star-quality on a local level. Chuck Cheesman is the type of folk artist who teaches school or lawyers or sells shoes all week long, and then performs for the local folk music club around a campfire or at the local folkie bar. His singing, his words, his music all pass muster at that level but are not yet ready to break out of the local market.

Chuck Cheesman's songs have a comfortable old-timey country music feel about them. They're well written and he performs them well, but there's rarely that sense of something special shining through. It's hard to tell whether Cheeseman has reached the limits of his talents or he just needs a little incentive to break the bonds of conformity. Certainly this release includes a couple of ideas that, more effectively executed, could lift this artist to another level.

There's a sense in these tales of the academic mind at work. The words read like a Grade Six school teacher presenting lessons in history or geography. They seem stilted and pedantic. Worse, far too many times, they just seem dry and understated. I begin to wonder if it would benefit this writer to read his lyrics out loud before setting them to music.

Writing a song about wolves from the point of view of the wolf or a song about the suicide of a revered national hero is not just creative but daring. However, these songs simply do not measure up. Retooled and polished, they might just make the mark and exceed it by a mile.

Even more daring, perhaps foolishly so, is to take the fabulous poem "Casey at the Bat" and make a song built around the same story. The result simply doesn't live up to the original. I'm not sure that I'd even try to polish this one.

"Uphill (American Dream)" is the exception on this CD. What Cheesman calls "a portrait of an illegal immigrant in Chicago" is a subtly written, tastefully performed comment on contemporary America. This is fine storytelling in the tradition of Harry Chapin or Jim Croce. (It probably also helps that this one just features Cheesman's voice and guitar without those irritating bongos that clutter most of the other songs.) Here, at last, Cheesman manages to just tell us the story without sounding like he's lecturing.

Chuck Cheesman is an artist on a cusp, one of many most artists encounter. There are decisions to be made. Cheesman is good enough now to be a star in his local folk scene and a contender regionally. Can he break out? That depends on how hard he wants to break out and how much time he wants to spend developing his craft

Those who may be interested can find additional information about Chuck Cheesman at his website. You can find clips of four songs by Chuck Cheesman at My Space.
Campfire
Chuck Cheesman
Independent
2006
12 tracks