Stayton Bonner
Think I’m Gonna Move to Australia (Blue Trout)
In 2004, Stayton Bonner placed second in the songwriter’s contest at Merlefest, North Carolina’s renown folk/bluegrass festival. It was an impressive feat for the young Texan considering past winners include Gillian Welch and Tift Merritt. Although he’s previously released a disc of demos, Think I’m Gonna Move to Australia is Bonner’s rightful debut, and it paints a kindhearted portrait of the talent discovered by Merlefest judges. While many singer-songwriters have moved away from the folk roots that spawned the genre, Bonner embraces them fully. His sole assistance is provided by underappreciated local stringmaster Eddie Collins, who plays a muscular one-man band by adding guitar, bass, banjo, mandolin, percussion, and background vocals, while also earning co-producer credit. Together they create a loose limbed, front porch sound that recalls Townes Van Zandt or Butch Hancock. Bonner’s not yet in that such lofty company when it comes to songwriting skills; at times the meter of his lyrics seems off kilter and his rhymes are weak. But if he writes more tunes like the bluegrass-inflected “Fisherman Song,” bluesy set opener “Twenty Miles Fro m Tucson,” and the starkly beautiful “Lonely When You’re Here,” a duet with Floramay Holliday, Bonner is likely to find a welcoming audience.
This article appears in July 29 • 2005.