Single Review: The Real Doug Lane “Outlaws, Lovers and Home”

Several years ago, an organization called Operation: Encore, A Veteran Music Project came into being. The Operation: Encore organization exists as a place for currently enlisted, separated and ex-military personnel, as well as their spouses to find peace of mind during and after active duty.

During its time in existence, Operation: Encore has already helped many soldiers and their families. And the result of the encouragement that has come from the organization are several different musical releases that feature members of the organization itself. Members such as soldiers Steve D. Wilson, Andrew Wiscombe and Stephen Covell all have albums that they are promoting while they also represent Operation: Encore. Military spouse Rachel Harvey Hill has also released an album of music.

And now to add to that list of ever-growing releases (which also includes TWO compilation albums from the organization itself), Doug Lane, a Texas native and current resident of Provo, Utah, has self-released his first single under the moniker of The Real Doug Lane.

As part of the military, Doug Lane had been a part of the Army in the 1^st Armored Division. He had been stationed in Germany and deployed in Baghdad. Lane served two tours between 2000 and 2004. During that time, he played the saxophone in the military band; although that was not his first taste of music. And it was while he was deployed that he met his wife of fifteen years.

No longer part of the military, Doug Lane’s civilian job finds him in the Information Technology field where he works as an IT Systems Engineer. And now, ever since gaining the encouragement of Operation: Encore, Lane is now pursuing a career as a singer-songwriter. And that musical career just took a step in the right direction with the release of Lane’s first single. The new single from The Real Doug Lane is entitled “Outlaws, Lovers and Home”.

“Outlaws, Lovers and Home” from The Real Doug Lane contains a gentle Folk-Rock feel to the music. The inclusion of the mandolin on the track brings out the Folk influence to the music while also adding to the easy feel of the track. Like many of the tracks that have come out of the Operation: Encore concept, “Outlaws, Lovers and Home” from The Real Doug Lane consists of lyrics that deal with things that have happened in Lane’s real life after his time in the military. But in this case, the lyrics are very relatable as many of us can find ourselves thinking about things we miss after moving away from the place we used to call home. The track’s lyrics deal with some of the things that Lane misses since he moved out of Texas to build a life for himself and his family in Utah. The slow pace to the music as well as the gentle feel that comes from the mandolin seems to add just a little sadness to Lane’s lyrics as well as his vocals that truly bring the song to life.

While it’s only one track, “Outlaws, Lovers and Home” from The Real Doug Lane gives a good indication of the talent that lies within the singer-songwriter. And this is only the first of several songs from Lane as he is in the process of creating a new EP that will be released in early 2018.

To check out “Outlaws, Lovers and Home” from The Real Doug Lane, click HERE.

For more music from The Real Doug Lane, check out his track from the Operation: Encore album of Monuments called “Faces“.  

 

For more reading about the music from the various members of the organization called Operation Encore, check out the review for the first album, the second release of Monuments, as well as the album reviews for Rachel Harvey Hill,  Andrew Wiscombe, Steve D. Wilson and for Stephen Covell. 

CD Review: Steve D. Wilson “Discovering Gravity”

Dallas, Texas-based Steve D. Wilson made a name for himself with the band The Black Doves. With the band, Wilson created a style that alternated between Alternative Rock and ballads.
But with time, everything changes. And the same thing can be said for Wilson, as the singer-songwriter finds himself creating another release.
This time, however, Wilson is on his own as the band has gone its separate ways….at least, for now. So to fill in the sound of his music, Wilson has called on several people to create the sound and feel of a band. Together with Wilson, the rest of the musicians include: bassist Sam Hudson, guitarist Dan Conrad, keyboard player Theodore Allison, drummer Joe Varela, Keith Brown on strings and Becky Newman adding harmony vocals to the songs. These musicians have helped Steve Wilson create a new release called Discovering Gravity.
The new release from Steve D. Wilson begins with the song “Perfect”. The song contains Wilson’s signature acoustic/electric rock that was so much a part of the Moments of Clarity release from The Black Doves. The resulting song creates a bridge that seems to take the listener from the 2008 release from that band and brings them over to today without losing much of what fans of that band liked about their music. “Perfect” still contains the vocals from Wilson that feel so effortless and emotional.
It is on the song “Mess of Me” that the landscape seems to change. While there is still a little bit of The Black Doves in the music of the song that might simply be because of Steve D. Wilson’s vocals. The song contains a rock ballad approach to the music, and with the addition of Becky Newman on harmony vocals, the song ends up being one of the most commercial and radio-friendly tracks of the five songs on the release.
Listeners to Top 40 radio back in the early 80s will no doubt recognize the song “Bringing on the Heartbreak” that was originally done by the British band Def Leppard. For this version, it is Theodore Allison’s keyboards that help create the majority of the music for the song. The updated version of the song from Steve D. Wilson still contains much of the magic that came from the original single, while still containing some of the sound Black Doves fans are familiar with. The combination of the two styles on the new track shows what can happen when someone decides to do a cover of a single…..in their own style.
“Superstar” is another song on the new release Discovering Gravity from Steve D. Wilson that has a very commercial feel to it. With the addition of some electronic elements in the music, the song also has a slight feel that makes it seem like something from the 90s. While there is a slight “retro” feel to this track, it also feels fresh and would still fit right in with today’s radio formats.
Discovering Gravity from Steve D. Wilson comes to a close with “Cold Steel Rain”. “Cold Steel Rain” is yet another song that tugs at the heartstrings. The keyboard from Theodore Allison is the main part of the music of the track, creating the perfect background for the vocals from Wilson.
While it’s sort of sad another album from The Black Doves was never released, this new EP of Discovering Gravity from singer/songwriter Steve D. Wilson from that band makes up for that. And with each song being composed by Wilson with the help of guitarist Dan Conrad and keyboard player Theodore Allison, the five songs contained within the CD have enough familiarity to them while taking the music in a different that fans of Wilson’s music, new or old, will enjoy the new CD.

Click HERE for a review of Moments of Clarity for Wilson’s band The Black Doves.