Swag - Catchall

15 or so years ago, while working on a project for the television network I was employed by, I spent a little time in an edit suite in Nashville. Doug Powell, the graphics guy assigned to my project, and I spent a few days with one another and, as happens, we spent a lot of time chatting as images were rendering. The subject was often music and we discussed the fact that he was a musician and songwriter doing graphics to pay the bills.

The second day we were in the suite he brought in a demo of some songs for his album. He had recently been signed by RCA after Jules Shear had introduced him to an A&R guy there and was hopeful about finishing the record soon and its release. The songs were great - Todd Rundgren, Jules Shear, and a host of other power pop masters had obviously been big influences. We stayed in touch after I left Nashville. He sent me unreleased Jules Shear demos and kept me posted on his album status.

Sadly, the exec who had signed him moved to Mercury, and although he took album with him, just as it was released a new label prez fired the A&R guy and stopped promotion on the album. Doug, nursed his wounds and cheered himself by touring with Todd Rundgren. Rundgren also liked Doug's stuff and agreed to produce his second album, but Mercury rejected the recording and dumped Doug.

Doug went about recording and self-releasing his stuff out of Nashville and getting chummy with his fellow musicians there. Although his music collected good reviews and showed his talent, his best work came not as a solo artist, but with a bunch of buddies as a lark.

In 2001, Doug, along with Ken Coomer (Wilco), Tom Petersson (Cheap Trick), Jerry Dale McFadden (Sixpence None The Richer), and Robert Reynolds (The Mavericks), formed a one-off group, Swag.

Catchall, their only full-length release, is like a tour of pure pop history - a joyous, raucous, party that delights the senses. Sounding in turns like the Beatles, Elvis Costello, and even Cheap Trick (the Petersson penned Ride, adds the twist of actually namechecking his real band), they have a gas and you can tell this was a labor of love for all of them. It's a shame this was the extent of their work - the collaboration ultimately dissolved in lawsuits - but it's worth it.

Of interest:
Lone
the McCartneyesque Near Perfect Smile and Different Girl
Please Don't Tell Her
the Costelloesque Eight
& Louise

Hear