By Deuce

By now, the tendency for singer, songwriter, guitarist, and harmonica player Bill Greenberg to consistently find—and maintain—perfection should be readily apparent to all.

But, just for argument’s sake, let’s say it’s not. Let’s say you’ve never heard of the man, his body of work, or any of his charming coffee shop performances. Throw on “Swear to God”, his latest and greatest work.

Before you’ve taken two decent breaths, you’ll see exactly what we mean.

The riff on his acoustic guitar, which is practically the entire motif of the piece, and well deservedly so, is something you need to hear to believe. It’s without flaw. Ideal. Takes over entire rooms, coffee shops, and even stadiums (if given the chance), as this reviewer believes.

It’s patiently slow, yet dexterously deft and spry in parts, evoking sentiments of time signature changes and pure smoothness. Perfection at its finest would be redundant to state, yet that’s exactly what we have here.

The guitar’s tightly interwoven with a three-note bass line that descends, time and time again. It’s a great low end, giving the tune thump and appeal. Any rap producer worth the name would easily loop this up–guitar, bass, and all–put some corpulent drums behind it, slow it up a tad, and have a monstrous smash on his hands.

But for Greenberg’s opus, drums would only be superfluous. So, he doesn’t have any. The space in the notes of the guitar, and of the bass, speak voluminously sans rhythm. All other speaking is left to Bill’s harmonica, which makes its way into the tune about halfway through it, for a poignant breakdown which feels just a tad distracting for those who want to hear the man’s guitar.

The style he kicks on the mic is simple and deceptively quiet at times, particularly during the hook in which his solemn adjuration to the deity becomes manifest. The song itself could very well be a prayer, big Bill the one taking you to church, and the listener his eager congregation, egging him on for just one more does of that gifted guitar.