Richard Turgeon – Campfire Songs (2021)
When an artist leads a double life, when he does something else every day except creating music, it is mostly expected that something suffers, either the music or the ‘regular’ job.’ Ok, possible, but what if doesn’t? To properly answer that question let’s add another element to the equation. What if the artist actually has a daily job, is good at both and is also an ordinary family man with a wife and two kids? Will the music suffer or the job or the family?
Well, in the case of San Francisco’s Richard Turgeon all this is possible and all can work well too! Turgeon has a day job as a creative director at a big digital agency, a wife and two kids and has so far recorded four albums of some cool power-pop, with Campfire Songs being the latest. With all that activity, many would doubt that at some point something will suffer and, usually, it is what some consider “the weakest link”. Yet, when we listen to Campfire Songs, that weakness is nowhere to be seen or should be better to say, heard.
Turgeon is obviously one who loves his power-pop and rightfully so! The power-pop with chiming guitars and vocal harmonies dominate and you can hear here quite an extensive list of excellent music that might have been the inspiration from Big Star and Dwight Twilley to Tom Petty, Cheap Trick, and R.E.M. All of those show up in exactly the manner they should in Turgeon’s music, who reminds us of all these names and none of them specifically, making his music in that respect quite individual.
Turgeon himself creates all the music and lyrics, vocals, guitars, as well as drums. With Ron Gueneche on bass and Tommy Carmine on keyboards and piano, there is just add enough to make Turgeon sound like a full-fledged band making Campfire Songs sound rich and melodic, as any quality power-pop should.
For more from Richard Turgeon check out his official website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
