Reviewed by Kit Burns
Tj Sherrill/High Horse
Seattle singer/songwriter Tj Sherrill deserves the “post-grunge” tag much more than wanna-be’s (and never-will-be’s) such as Nickelback and 3 Doors Down. The difference isn’t just about geographical location. Just because Sherrill is based in Seattle doesn’t instantly earn him street cred; after all, Candlebox, the first of the grunge poseurs, lived in the Emerald City, too (albeit transplants). In terms of his honest lyrical content and no-frills approach to music, I’d say he embodies the spirit of Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder than most of today’s husky-voiced ’90s-washed rockers.
Considering that much of Sherrill’s work is acoustically based, comparing him to the grunge ancestry of his hometown may seem a little odd. But real fans of grunge know that it wasn’t just about the distortion and feedback. Relatively quiet moments such as Nirvana’s “Polly” and Pearl Jam’s “Immortality” struck as sharp a nerve as those bands’ loudest moments. “I need you to know all my pain,” Sherrill sings on “No Where,” and his raspy, wounded voice is refreshingly real in a landscape of bogus angst. The title track opens slowly the picks up speed with its deceptively upbeat keyboards as Sherrill spits out, “A long way down from the high horse/That you call your opinion.” The acoustic guitars are tuneful but spiky, and that’s how they’ve always brewed it in Seattle.
