Review: ‘Moonlight Songs,’ by local hero Gregg Curry

‘Moonlight Songs,’ produced by island recording maestro Martin Feveyear with a strong backing band, is the latest in a string of four albums recorded by Curry since 2015.

Beloved local musician Gregg Curry will unveil tracks from his new album, “Moonlight Songs,” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 25, at Snapdragon’s Bakery & Cafe’s Black Cat Cabaret.

The album, produced by island recording maestro Martin Feveyear with a strong backing band, is the latest in a string of four albums recorded by Curry since 2015.

Like all of Curry’s work, his latest songs are tangled in the twisted roots of American music — blues, Southern rock, gospel and rock and roll. It is music that is inspired by Curry’s deep catalog love of the Great American Songbook and, perhaps, by his many cross-country road trips, serenaded by a radio mix of masters including Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and even the hard-rocking sound of bands like Def Leppard.

The album begins with the rousing track, “Wash You Clean,” which has a more old-timey folk music cadence than some of Curry’s previous works. Still, it is delivered by him with a trademark ragged rocker’s edge in his voice.

The title track, “Moonlight Song,” shows Curry’s more poetic side — evoking both the inkiness and sweetness of the night, as well as the dark turns a soul can take in “the shadows of fear in a time gone wrong.”

The album gets theatrical with “Unlucky 13,” a story song that daringly draws from both southern rock and rock opera, with the Siren Sisters — Rebekah Bevilaqua Kuzma, Sarah Howard and Dianne Krouse —in a tight backing chorus. Kim Thal’s fiddle playing also soars above the song, raising the stakes of the drama even higher.

The beat of the entire album is laid down tight on drums played by 90s grunge god Mark Pickerell, of Screaming Trees fame.

Find out more about the album at greggcurry.com, and head out to the show on June 25 to enjoy it all live, and in person.