Album Review by Jon Gardzelewski

Crooked Rivers is a powerhouse of an album by local Cheyenne songwriter Jason Buchanan. I automatically appreciate any recordings where the genre is not clear, yet the artist is 100% themselves in their songwriting and presentation. To set your expectations appropriately, think Texas country meets Christian folk, meets Wyoming storytelling — Jason has a unique and authentic sound that you can easily listen to all day.

The opening track Bury me with a Broom, sets the tone for the album with a well-crafted story of an older woman whose life was lived for creating beauty and for helping others. You might expect that the character needs to evolve or reconsider her past to make it interesting or relevant today, but instead, she doubles down on who she is and what she wants, needing the broom to “start cleaning Heaven.”

The album is full of these stories and concepts that are both timeless and fresh: the title track Crooked Rivers is a pop song about the stark contradiction between the geographies of man and nature where Buchanan alludes to the wildness of our inner nature, confusing the contradiction while making the metaphor more interesting. In I’m Not as Good he beats himself up for his life choices in his most beautiful and toughest song. The final track Willie Nelson Song is an adult lullaby about leaning into and enjoying the veteran years of life (it’s just a good concept) that is guaranteed to makes you smile.

Start to finish, this album is packed with contagious hooks and riffs, and enough ooohs and aaaahs to have you singing to your dog for weeks. But the real mastery here is how Jason brings you out onto the ledge with him to witness and appreciate his world with all its quirks, flaws, failures, and triumphs. The song I’m listening to most on repeat, Sleeping on the Porch in a Texas Storm, is just a simple song about heartbreak and longing where he pairs his musical and poetic skills to paint a succinct yet elaborate emotional landscape for the listener to uncover like an old, pushed out, memory.

Half of the songs on Crooked Rivers tackle religious and spiritual issues head on, and whether or not you believe what Buchanan believes you can appreciate his honesty and emotion. It’s hard not to relate to his knee-jerk rebellious spirit, or to appreciate his wide understanding of the human condition and his honesty in telling you exactly who he is. There really is a lot going on here--you probably just need to go listen to this album!