Newfoundland singer-songwriter Terry Penney follows up his award-winning debut Take Back Two with an eclectic mix of rock 'n' roll, country and pop tunes on Missing Marshville. Although the songs on this record represent various musical styles, they are tied together by catchy lyrics and solid musicianship, and they earned Penney his first East Coast Music Award nomination, for Country Artist of the Year, in 2002. He is joined by a number of excellent musicians, including Glenn Simmons and Dave Fitzpatrick (of the Fables), Rick Hollett, Glen Hiscock, Theo Webber, Denise Lehr and Ray Lake, who also co-produced, mixed and engineered the record.

Penney, who wrote all the songs on Missing Marshville, opens with "Midnight and the Moon," a tale of things that go together "like Richards and Jagger." Penney has a good voice; it didn't come out and grab me right away but the vocals are solid. Through ballads like "By You" and "One Broken Heart Away," fun rock songs like "Down This Road" and "We Played," and country tales like "Claws or Kisses" and "Rebel Just Because," his voice is both strong and gentle.

Highlights on the record include "Hiding Mr. Hyde," a clever song about an abusive relationship, and the closing track, "Normandy in Newfoundland," an emotional ode inspired by a local World War II veteran and dedicated to Newfoundlanders who have served overseas and who still go back there in their minds: "He said, overseas friend I've been a thousand times/fishing fearless, tiny boat adrift/but this overseas is a different kind of thing/I'm frightened every moment that I live."

The songs on Missing Marshville aren't that different from some other stuff out there, but the writing is good, which will always win in the end.

- Rambles
written by Rachel Jagt
published 10 October 2003

[ visit the artist's website ]