I have been a fan of Denison Witmer for quite a few years now. There is just something about his songwriting that grabs me. Basically what you have here is Denison and his guitar, with some help from his friends contributing maybe a second guitar here or there. I guess you could say Denison has kind of a folk feel to his music. It's not as much of a folk feel as Damien Jurado or Elliott Smith have at times, but still some. What I think I really enjoy about his songs is that most of them tell a story, sort of like David Bazan of Pedro the Lion does in many of his songs, although unlike Bazan, Denison's lyrics are based 100% on real life experiences.
From my understanding, this is just kind of a warm-up EP before his next full-length, which should be out soon. Two of the songs on this EP appear on his last full-length called "Safe Away," which is currently available online at www.burnttoastvinyl.com. Since I already have that CD, I was a little bit disappointed that all of the songs on this EP were not new ones. (Actually, I would have given this EP a better grade if all the songs were new and were as good as most of his other songs.) But at least we get three new songs out of this EP, "Healing Time," "St. Jude," and my favorite of the three new songs, "You Got Me Good." Basically, if you don't have either this EP or his last full-length then I highly recommend that you go out and get them. No matter who you are, or what kind of music you really like, you should be able to relate to Denison.
B+
Other coverage for this album
Opus 2002Reviewed by Jason MoreheadPersonally, I think every overly earnest singer/songwriter with an acoustic guitar and a 4-track would do well to purchase one or two Denison Witmer albums. And frankly, I think we would all be better off. They'd become better songwriters, and we wouldn't have to deal with half as many angst-ridden ballads that read like so much bad high school poetry. And they can start by picking up this…HM Magazine #81Reviewed by David M. PoggeWhy in the world is this CD being reviewed in your Hard Music authority? Well, it's anything but hard, but it is music, so I guess it halfway fits. Velvet Blue Music has done it again with this five-song EP that will bring a tear to your eye, half from the sweet sadness of the lyrics and half from the sheer beauty of the music. There are very few artists that can put out a release with just their…Decapolis 1999Reviewed by ConradSinger/songwriter. One guy, one guitar. Typically this stuff gets on my nerves because all I can think of is some gloomy guy in his room with his guitar singing about all the sad things in his life. But before you think I'm going to trash this album this one is actually pretty good for this genre. If he was in the 70s, you'd call him a folk singer. I don't know what you'd call him now. Vocal…Decapolis 1999Reviewed by TimThis is really good slow acoustic music. While I don't really like this guy's voice, the songs are thought provoking, and the music is enjoyable. It was nice to listen to this on my 30 minute drive home from my girlfriend's house. I don't normally like slower stuff, but this is good. B+Decapolis 1999Reviewed by Matt R.Following up a masterpiece of a debut record, this little holdover for the next record is just that, a holdover. The three new songs on the record once again show Denison's knack for song-writing, and his ability to tell a story in his songs. With lyrics like, "I watched you walk until I could see you no more...All of my love in the form of a sixteen year old girl," he speaks volumes about the…The Phantom Tollbooth 1999Reviewed by Michial FarmerIt takes a great deal of courage to play acoustic music. When it's just your voice and a single guitar, there aren't many places to hide. If your songwriting is even remotely sub-par, every member of your audience knows it immediately. Denison Witmer braves these risks, and the Christian music world is blessed because of it. Witmer's new EP, River Bends, contains five songs of stripped back,…Similar sounding releases
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