Cashville411.com

Artistically, singer-songwriter-guitarist Tim Carroll has always had somewhat of a split personality — one part pedal-to-the-metal rocker and one part wry, folky humorist. On his new album, The Devil Is A Busy Man, Carroll comes closer to resolving those seemingly opposing sides of his artistry than on any of his previous four releases, including the major-label recordings he made for the Sire label.

Carroll co-produced the record with Eric McConnell in the fall of 2005 at McConnell’s studio, which has emerged as the studio of choice in East Nashville. The record originally was made for a new independent label, but when the label tanked, it remained on the shelf until Carroll got the rights earlier this year to release it on his own.

The album kicks off with “The Guy For The Job,” 3:54 of blistering rock & roll. From start to the finish, Carroll displays his considerable rock-guitar vocabulary, coaxing a variety of sounds from his Telecaster, making it talk, squawk, and wail. Carroll uses a nasty, grungy guitar tone on the rhythm guitar, a tone he employs throughout the record. Lyrically, the song is a metaphor for his career. While he may not have been in the bright spotlight of stardom, he’s “the guy for the job” — the guy who will show up and rock the house.

In many ways, the second track, “Almost There,” represents a near-perfect synthesis of the two sides of the artist’s musical personality. A folk-rock number featuring some swinging violin parts by Matt Combs, it also is a fine example of Carroll’s lyrical prowess as he captures the feeling of a lover recently lost who is still “almost there.”

Carroll flashes his rock credentials throughout the album, but nowhere more so than on “Icing On The Cake.” Backed by a pounding rhythm courtesy of drummer Paul Griffith and bassist Dave Jacques, Carroll kicks off the song with a fiery barrage of six-string pyrotechnics and doesn’t let up until he reaches the end, two minutes and nineteen seconds later. Lyrically, the song is simple, yet profound; the artist sounding like a guru when he sings, “Each morning I awake/It’s icing on the cake.”

The title cut, another two-minute rocker, features some more of the artist’s tongue-in-cheek philosophizing set to a swampy, funky arrangement: “The time he picks/You’re in fix/You’ve got no choice/But to hear his voice/… You better pray/The devil is a busy man.” Carroll layers some searing, grungy lead over a chicken-pickin’ rhythm guitar part.

The album’s tour of rock’s subgenres includes the garage-boogie of “So Stupid It’s Cool.” McCullough used a distorted, megaphone effect on Carroll’s voice, and it perfectly complements the song’s Lennonesque lines: “So out, it’s in/So over, it’s about to begin/… So stupid, it’s cool.”

While The Devil Is A Busy Man features a number of it-doesn’t-get-any-better-than-this rock moments, the best may be “Feels No Pain,” a hard-hitter, musically and lyrically. Dirty, distortion-drenched guitars set the tone for Carroll’s saber-sharp commentary: “White collar hates his job/But won’t complain/He’d rather kneel than rob/He feels no pain.”

For those who prefer his country-folk-humorist side, the album includes “Montgomery” and “Elmwood,” both of which feature backing vocals by his wife, country diva Elizabeth Cook.

The Devil Is A Busy Man is Tim Carroll’s first release in five years and it is a compelling reminder that he is a prolific and clever songwriter. But the album also is a strong testament to Carroll’s growth as an artist and musician, and places him prominently within Nashville’s rock pantheon.

— Daryl Sanders