The wittily titled Dear John is Johnny Hickman’s 2019 EP, sandwiched between his second album Tilting (2012) and third album Blood Moon (2021).
The record was recorded entirely in producer and pedal steel ace Phillip Broste’s home studio in the hills above Fort Collins, with Hickman having a spooky drive home each night. Some of the songs were new, written specifically for Dear John while others were songs roughed out for Tilting but hadn’t been quite ready for those sessions. Broste said they “tried to move fast and capture all of the ghosts in the room, and there were plenty”. Stu Crair, Baily Stauffer, Gary Broste and Phillip Broste made up the band.
Across the five tracks there’s a sense of impending doom; despite its distinctive melody “God Damned Shame” is an exercise in regret, and there are few bright colours in “Cartoon Life”. “Styling The Dead” heads into oblivion.
On the face of it, this sounds like it should be a dismal listen but it’s remarkably engaging all things considered, particularly so when the country twang is enhanced by Phillip Broste‘s pedal steel on the swashbuckling “The Killer of Highway 64” and the comic road tune come romance “Catholic Girl”.
Label: Campstove Records
Release Date: 20 DEC 2019
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