So it’s cold. I’ve had a crap day. The second router in six months burned up on me last night, and i spent the whole day trying to suss out the problem, get my beat up truck to town, come up with cash and put some “minutes” on the mobile 3g card. It took all day. Every time I turn around, I’m tripping on a cable, or a dog, or a dog chewing another cable in half… everything I touch falls apart in my hands, today. Ya I’m at the point of cursing and pulling my hair out.

At 5pm, I finally get things working, and the inbox starts blowing up with “can you fix this for me? right now!” Oh, boy… not what I had in mind for a Sunday…

So, now it’s after 10 and I finally get to this review that’s been on my desk for at least two weeks. Well all things happen for a reason…

Jeff Clark – yeah that’s the one – now where did I stick the bio and such? Oh, there it is! Good… let’s do this.

Like I said all things happen for a reason and after this exasperat-athon of a day, I finally find myself relaxing. With each song that comes through the speakers, I can feel the tension releasing, the heart rate is slowing, and the brain is letting go of the bull…

“Just Visiting,” he says… hmmm well it won’t just be a visit, here… Like it or not, Jeff Clark is going to be trapped on my hard drive and Nexus for a long long time. I’m sure his hometown of Austin (ring a bell? sxsw?) feels the same way. OK, I’m sure of it, because I’ve read the comments on his PR page.

“Just Visiting” is a collection of songs Clark has written over the past couple decades, but other than some styling hints, they sound fresh and instamatic, like they were written yesterday. Written yesterday just for me!

Every tune on this record has an upbeat feel and lyric. As exhausted as I am while I write this, I want to get up and dance! But that’s a sight you don’t want to see.

If you grew up when I did, you remember the great energy of bands like Styx, Loverboy, Steve Miller, Yes and the others that graced our FM dials. I think it’s a real shame that almost every popular rock song these days seems to be a “woe is me, I’m going to scream” song, they drive me nuts. Clark has landed some positive energy on the desk and I have to thank him for it.

I was grooving right along with “Everything With You,” (perhaps my favorite) and “We Can Make It” (Stephen Stills sings on this one), “Tonight” and “Trilogy” (perhaps my favorite, did I say that before?) Then I got to “25 Years Later (Then, Now and Forever)” and I had to stop! I’ve been trying to write this song myself for a year or so… I ran from the studio to the house and dragged the wife out to have a listen to words that I had never been able to speak, we held each other tight and listened twice!

Listening to “Man Of Fortune,” and loving the odd-ball sounds he throws in reminds me again of how many of my favorite bands are listed in the bio – bands Clark has shared a stage with, and pickers and singers that show up on the record. It’s hard to believe this cat has been around so long and I’ve never heard of him before. Well, all good things come in time, and this was the perfect time!

I’ve been trying to think of a negative point (remember the attitude I described earlier?) and the only thing I can come up with is that the younger kids might say it’s “old people cheese rock.” Well suck it up and get you some educatin’ there, young fella – that’s all I can say.

Clark’s songs and sounds cover the spectrum of popular sounds from the last three or four decades in a positively fresh way, and I dig it. Austin, you’ve been trying to keep this guy a secret all to your own, but MidTnMusic are going to change that!

Wow, do I feel better! Thanks for letting me vent… Now go get you some Jeff Clark.