Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid

They say you can’t go home again.  But in Dan Auerbach’s recent solo debut Keep It Hid I am transported back to my musical roots of the late 60’s and 70’s.  Auerbach, who is best known as the guitarist for the duo The Black Keys, takes a page out of a time when the focus was on the music, expression, and experimentation, and was less focused on idols, divas, rock gods and goddesses. Produced and engineered by Auerbach at his studio in Akron, Ohio, Keep It Hid features him playing a variety of instruments, including drums, guitar, percussion, and keyboards.

Defying simple classification, Keep It Hid is unabashed self-expression drawing on soul, psychedelia, rhythm and blues, and country harmonies. There are Hendrix-like guitar riffs, melancholy vocals akin to Stevie Winwood’s (Traffic) “No Face, No Name, No Number”, and elements drawn from British blues.  But, not to mislead, Auerbach’s effort is fresh, authentic, and inspiring.  Therein lays the beauty.  Traces of the past, but melodies and vocals that certainly are personal and individualistic.

Go to iTunes, Amazon, or the download source of your choice, and sample two of my favorites - “Real Desire” and “Whispered Words (Pretty Lies)”. For a few dollars, you can download the LP or selected songs, and travel to a different place and time – to a place that is familiar and comfortable, but that is authentic and organic.

Reviewed by mw.

June 2009