A Room Full of Stories

Wes King

Sparrow
CD, SPD 1587 $16.98
CAS, $10.98

Singer croons his heart
on personal project

Early this year Sparrow Records released Wes King's sixth recording A Room Full of Stories. Only 31, King is the thinking person's singer, and it's clear he's been thinking a lot. But unlike his earlier Common Creed album, these songs tend to be very personal stories.

"Jesus told parables to convey the truth," says King. "I think He used stories since that's what we all relate to. We're drawn to stories because our life is a story."

King describes his new release as being "like a journal. Each song is an entry and each entry is a story." The "entries" range from the swinging pop rock of "Simplify" to the haunting ballad "Thought You'd Be Here" to the interpretative jazz touch of "Good News" and the old time gospel flavor of "Cover to Cover." King wrote these and all the others on the 10-track CD with help on a only a few, notably from Wayne Kirkpatrick, who also produced half the cuts on A Room Full of Stories.

The instrument mix is different on many of the cuts as well; the only constant is King's clear voice and acoustic guitar. Background singers are sparingly used, but to good effect. Jonatha Brooke is heard on three selections, including the colorful acoustic pop track, "Good News." Listeners will also like "Who but God?" where Jane Kelly Williams adds a sort of Joan Baez quality.

King gravitates to the work of such writers as J.R.R. Tolkien and Frederick Buechner. The same yearning for the ideal that feeds his affinity with these authors also gives shape to his lyrics. "My love is to write the songs and then play them. I enjoy making the instrument accompany the vocal and dress the lyric," he says. Sometimes its obvious that King has let the lyrics overrule the melody, and his songs can wind up with awkward phrasing.

Two cuts really stand out: "Thought You'd Be Here," a haunting ballad written as a good-night lullaby to the infant King and his wife Fran want badly but who's yet to be born. "Of all the songs I've written, this one touches people the most deeply."

"Grace" sings of a truth hard-won by King. "Going into my thirties," says King, "I've been thinking about how fast life changes. The only thing that has me still standing is grace." That's a story everybody can agree with.

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