Listening to this highly impressive album you would be entirely forgiven for assuming that the artist was from the American heartland given the delivery, imagery and subject matter. However, the name Trailhead is the pseudonym of Tobias Panwitz, a native of Berlin and hence a non native English speaker. This knowledge only serves to heighten the admiration that he has managed to produce a work of such authenticity and finite observation. The little background information provided on the artists website establishes that in the 1990’s he spent some years moving between places and countries and that during this time he found that for him music was the only thing worth pursuing. The fact that he has a penchant…
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…for American literature and that his travelling years included time roaming the United States appears to be what has coloured his outlook and his songwriting together with the influences of many other places in between.
This is his third album as Trailhead although he has also released a number of albums in his native tongue under his own name. All thirteen tracks were written by Panwitz and he also plays most of the instruments on the album as well as having production credits. The opening track is the upbeat and inspirational “Another Mile” a song about making the most your own gifts and being strong in the face of adversity. This is generally indicitive of the album as a whole. Certainly if you are looking for songs of lament and woe this is not for you although it would be wrong to suggest that this is a sugary sweet affair – far from it, this is a collection of well written and very well presented songs. There are influences aplenty, with the title track “Leave Me To Learn” sounding like it could have been lifted directly from the Ron Sexsmith songbook both in terms of feel and subject matter, this song referring to soul searching whilst on the road and ultimately returning home to the bossom of the family. There are hints along the way of Dylan, Neil Young and Jackson Browne amongst others, and on tracks where harmonica is to the fore Springsteen in a country mood.
There are many highlights but particularly worth a mention are “Church Bells”, a lovely reflective song, featuring close vocal harmonies between Panwitz and his brother whilst the album closer “When I Come Home Again” is a delicate ballad that rounds things off beautifully. An impressive album indeed by a hugely talented artist.