I am writing this while sitting in an airport departure lounge; it doesn’t really matter where. What matters is, I’m trying to get home. And, while hanging around airports is never really a great time, it is indeed a great time to reflect upon some tracks I have just received.

There are gifted songwriters and there are gifted performers. But the rarest of these is the gifted songwriter who also has the ability to deliver self-penned lyrics in a performance which captivates both mind and soul.

Doug Mallory is one such songwriter.

Already well known as an outstanding performer, Doug presents his original compositions, and frames these songs with his uniquely soulful but poignant vocal style. These are not cute little ditties with rhyming lyrics; quickly conceived and recorded to meet someone else’s formula or deadline. No… these are songs slowly crafted from the heart; in many cases intensely personal. These are sketches of real life; coloured and shaded with hues of real human emotion.

This music delivers the songwriter as the artist in an authentic manner that lets the vocal and the lyric itself stand strong out front. Yet, the musicality of Mallory’s compositional efforts is as beautifully crafted as the lyrics. Obviously fused from genres as musically diverse as jazz, gospel, and folk, these arrangements also serve to showcase Mallory’s talents on both keyboards and guitar.

Listen with your ears… and with your heart. Both will be rewarded in equal measure.

-David Shearer, May 2009