Pure Prairie League's Back On Track

Pure Prairie League's Back On Track

Bruce Von Stiers

I know a woman whose name is Aimee. When asked about the spelling of her name, Aimee always mentions that she was named after a song. Her parents were fans of the song Aimee by Pure Prairie League. So, they gave their daughter that name.

I brought up this story because I want to let you know about a new album by Pure Prairie League. In fact, it is the first studio album the band has recorded in almost twenty years. The title of the album is Back On Track.

The band had humble beginnings in southern Ohio. It gained a huge fan base and stardom with songs like Aimee, Let Me Love You Tonight and Still Right Here In My Heart. Over the years band members came and went. One notable member of the band who went on to a huge solo career is Vince Gill. The band went dormant in the late ‘80's and re-formed in 1998 with a few new members.

A few band member changes went on through the years and now the current line up is John David Call, Scott Thompson, Randy Harper, Jared Camic and Jeff Zona. Call is a founding member of the band and plays pedal steel guitar, banjo and dobro. Thompson has been a member of the band since 2012 and does drums, percussion and vocals. On vocals, keyboard and guitar, Harper has been with the band since 2018. Only having been with the band since 2021, Camic does vocals and plays bass. Zona also came on board in 2021. He plays guitar and does vocals.

There are a few artists who make guest appearances on the album. There is Jenifer Wrinkle who plays fiddle, Mat Britain on steel drums and percussion and Gary Burr on vocals. There is also Jeff (Birdman) Kirk on alto sax.

Back On Track has twelve songs and a play time of forty-four minutes.

The first song on the album is The Beginning. It is about the budding love between him and her. It is a light toe tapping song with nice music and fluid vocals. There is really nice steel pedal in the song.

Picture Perfect is a fun, toe tapping tune about love and life.

Soft and gentle, I Believe is about him falling in love with her. He believes he can fall in love with falling in love with her.

Skipping Stones has a toe tapping country rock flavor. He's looking forward to day when he can settle down, sit by the water and just skip stones. There is a cool keyboard riff played during parts ot the song. And a bit of Allman Brothers like guitar as well.

Things slow down a bit with the mellow steel pedal infused song Crazy World. He appreciates that she's his anchor in this crazy word. There is a terrific guitar bridge in the song.

Modern Problem is an almost rock infused song. There is somewhat moody background music at the start. It is a love lost ballad with some cool guitar.

Then there is the smile effecting, toe-tapping song A Love Like Yours. The song features a tough bit of sax and steel pedal.

I'm The Lucky One is a nice love ballad. He's the lucky one to have someone who loves him so much.

Next is the slow and heartfelt ballad Love Song.

Price Of Love is about him knowing he's not enough for her. Or maybe she's really not good enough for him. The song has an almost Caribbean flair to it at times.

Six Feet Of Snow is a fun, toe tapping fiddle infused tune.

The final song on the album is the title track, Back On Track. It has a country rock tone with cool music and good vocals.

I wasn't too sure what to expect from this album. I never owned one of the band's albums, so I really didn't know any of their music other than their chart hits. But I really like the songs that were hits such as Aimee and Love Me Tonight. What I found was that I really liked this new album. The vocals are terrific and the music is great. The album ended up being far more exceptional than I had anticipated.

Back On Track is now available on major streaming platforms. You can also purchase a CD copy of the album and later this year there will be vinyl copies available.

Pure Prairie League has an official website where you can learn more about this album and the band itself. You can also order Back On Track from the site. The site can be found at https://pureprairieleague.com/

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