Andy Grooms is a past member of the Memphis band Pawtuckets that made some noise around the year 2000. Pawtuckets were an alt-country outfit that had their share of twang but Grooms has shed most of that for his first solo record.

Instead of country stomp, Grooms has turned to piano balladry to fill this 12 song album. It is all about good songwriting for Andy Grooms with much of the emphasis being directly on the lyrics. The record finds Grooms fighting optimism at points and often embracing being stuck in the doldrums. Their is a strange tone to the songs on Grateful To Burn, it is almost like only a touch of reluctant fight is left and as long as it is there the record will play on. Songs like “I’m Not So Sad” and “Decadent Eyes” lead the record’s dark atmosphere to a world where nothing is exactly as it seems and there is always another paralleled to the story. Like Grooms sings on “Boy In The Bubble”: “I’ve been having some trouble figuring out if it’s real.”

On the carousel ride of “Itch To Scratch” the down times are still at their peak as Grooms slows his tickling of the piano keys while singing “I’d just like to get my good times back.” It is record to play when you’ve had a few too many cocktails, it’s 4 am and you can’t sleep. That is where this record lives. Grooms really sums everything up best in the last line of the entire record on “Master of the Late Night”: “…somewhere tween the darkness and the twilight, that’s where I’ll find all the unspoken truth.”

Key Tracks: “Decadent Eyes” “I’m Not So Sad” “Itch To Scratch”