Bill Dowling - In the Wood

Released early last year, Winkler-based singer-songwriter Bill Dowling’s first recording, In the Wood, is a collection of clever and honest folk songs ranging in subject matter from family and friends, to politics and the economy. Dowling’s songs are rough around the edges and his voice is like the gravel roads his part of the country is crisscrossed with. Some songs are serious and some are humorous, like the sarcastic country song, Presidential Satisfaction Blues, where Dowling criticizes the Bush administration with the refrain “I liked the world better when the boss was getting some,” (referring, of course, to Clinton). Infused with elements of rock, folk, pop and country, In the Wood is a good first effort. It’ll be interesting to see where Dowling goes from here.

In the Wood by Bill Dowling

Published in Volume 63, Number 20 of The Uniter (February 12, 2009)

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