Spotlight Album Review: Pat Wictor "Flare"
Nearly 20 years ago I first encountered Pat Wictor and was immediately struck by his supple vocals and guitar playing, his well-crafted songs, and astute choice of covers. He shared those gifts with kindred spirits Greg Greenway and Joe Jencks during their seven-year tenure as the trio Brother Sun. Those elements are all in evidence on his brilliant seventh solo album, Flare.
The title could be considered a homonym, for Pat has always displayed an understated flair in his musicianship; when he’s backing other musicians, he inevitably makes them sound better. However, the dictionary definition of flare is certainly applicable: “a fire or blaze of light used especially to signal, illuminate, or attract attention.” In Flare Pat is using original songs and covers to illuminate the political divisions right now in America, but, in typical Wictor fashion, not with a heavy hand.
It's no coincidence that three of the first five songs on Flair ask questions. “How Will They Tell It” asks us to consider how future generations will view our present actions: “When the story of our time is told…Will they say that we were brave our bold…Did our conscience stir much too late…Will they say we lived in fear and hate?” “What If?” asks to us ponder whether our rigid political opinions can blind us from the truth: “What if the story I tell myself is wrong/What if it’s me, and I can only sing one song?” And on “Is It Too Much to Ask?” he makes the heartfelt plea to address the scourge of gun violence in America: “Do we love our children more than we love our guns?”
Other standout tracks include “The Devil You Know,” a blues on lap slide guitar invoking Robert Johnson to point out the danger of demagogues: “We’re all going down to the crossroads/Don’t you get burned , there’s still time to turn from the devil.” Pat addresses free speech in “I’ve Got a Right,” believing strongly in dialogue and civil engagement, but putting limits when the free speech threatens democracy. On the album’s concluding track, “The Past Is Never Over,” Pat, an ardent reader of history, uses the metaphor of America as a choir and takes the long view:
To not just repeat what’s been done
Composers must know the craft
Avoid the mistakes others have made
And find new ways of using the past
The three covers dovetail with Flare’s themes. At a time when there is such tension about Latin American immigration, Bob Dylan’s “Senor (Tales of Yankee Power},” presented powerfully by Pat, seems particularly apropos. “Days of Decision” comes from the Phil Ochs songbook, which Pat has explored before through Phil Ochs Song Nights and his 2017 album, This Is Absolutely Real. Pat’s jazzy guitar sounds an alarm about the implications of the January 6 insurrection. “The Way of the World” also has a jazz accent, reflecting Mose Allison’s ironic, world-weary tone.
We shouldn’t conclude that the challenges expressed in Flare signal defeatism on Pat’s part. He’s willing to do the work as a musical messenger and hope that rest of us will heed the call.