Jonathan Calhoun - Over the Street Lights to the Stars

​Jonathan Calhoun

Over the Street Lights to the Stars
self-released; 2024
​
4.0 out of 5 

​​​By ​Dino DiMuro​

Jonathan Calhoun is a singer/songwriter from Charleston, West Virginia. Writing and playing guitar for over 20 years, he finally recorded his first solo album “These Empty Arms” in his home studio during the pandemic. Now, about four years later, he’s just released his fourth album titled “Over the Street Lights to the Stars.”

In the past, Calhoun’s music has shown the influence of Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen, “with a bit of Prince mixed in.” This time around he mentions U2, The Smashing Pumpkins and Bryan Adams as his inspirations. The songs tackle concepts like loss, hope, death and perseverance. With one exception, Calhoun plays all instruments and recorded in his home studio in Charleston, West Virginia using Logic Pro. Calhoun is quite pleased with the results, having developed his production skills on his earlier projects as well as investing in better equipment.

“Exile” caught me off guard with its Middle Eastern guitar runs and tabla percussion. When the heavy guitars kick in, they play angular riffs vaguely reminiscent of the theme from “The Twilight Zone.” Calhoun has a very Eighties voice, sort of like Bowie, Bryan Ferry or Danny Elfman. Overall this track has a dark, assertive vibe. 

Next up is “Friday Night and Forever” which Calhoun says is “currently my most popular single, inspired by the more rock-oriented Bryan Adams hits from the 80s.” His voice does sound like both Adams and Tom Petty, and the jocular guitar chords very much recall 80’s rock. This track features Calhoun’s only guest player Ash Blair, who adds biting Fender guitar solos. “Forget About the End of the World” evokes a 60’s garage band sound except for the drum machines. Calhoun loves his fuzz and there’s tons of it here. 

“Paint on the Walls” brings us the soothing timbres of a Tom Petty track, with vocals and harmonica evoking the Master. Though more quietly acoustic, there’s a power to Calhoun’s sound that never seems to let up. “The Search Begins Again” is a laid-back boogie rocker where Calhoun mentions “a Traveling Wilburys song” and that’s pretty much what I was thinking! Calhoun crams more lyrics into one song than anyone I can remember except maybe Lou Reed. “Unspeakable” is a jittery hard rocker where Calhoun treats his voice the same way he plays his guitars. “The End and the After” is said to be “in the vein of Jason Isbell” and is certainly the quietest and most acoustic-centered track so far. Calhoun here acts as a somewhat morose narrator, where the end of our lives is laid out in stark and unsentimental terms (“from here the road is shorter, getting closer to the border between the going and the gone”) though he does say “death is not the end.”

The writing of “Over The Street Lights to the Stars” dates back about 20 years to Calhoun’s time at West Virginia University. He found the inspiration recently to finish the song when he was “looking out my window at the stars one night just like I did all those years ago in college, reflecting upon how our hopes and desires endure despite how life changes along the way.” The track sounds as expansive and hopeful as you’d expect, and I have to admit I prefer Calhoun’s quieter side to his wall of fuzz workouts. It’s a lengthy track but features a great dramatic build to a restrained but excellent guitar solo. “Once and Future Queen” takes us back to full-on rock featuring lots more of Calhoun’s seemingly endless bag of lyrical tricks. “Monster at the End of Time” has a cool staccato arrangement that actually approaches funk. “Ride On” is the triumphant closer, again reaching out to the spirit of Tom Petty.

Though I occasionally wonder how Calhoun would sound with a live drummer at his elbow, I found most of these songs to be well-arranged and satisfying, if a bit loud here and there. An interesting artist worth checking out!

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