Part-Cherokee Jason Downs is a bit of a drifter you know. In his lyrics the Maryland man, now settled in New York, paints a romantic picture of himself as a simple traveller, his guitar his only possession, bedding as many exotic, exciting ladies along the way as he possibly can.
Occasionally the "hot little cutie with a nice round booty" will get the white boy with a feather into trouble with an irate, gun-wielding boyfriend. Every now and again, the earth child will rant against greed, smallmindedness, the rape of Mother Nature or the plight of the Native American. All of these tales and feelings he puts into song - a mix of rootsy folk and country and shouty rapping hip hop, care of his old mucker and the album's co-producer Milk.
It's a largely winning, if somewhat one dimensional formula. Downs has a rich vocal and a nice line in melody. But there's barely any variety in pace or sound and spread over 12 songs this wears a tad thin. Especially Milk's ranting rap. In fact his yelping rhymes from the album's hit single title track would easily fit any of the other songs here.
'Revenue' tackles avarice to a tune which owes a great deal to Harry Chapin's easy listening oldie 'Cat's In The Cradle' - a cover of which, while strangely not featured here, was recently released by Downs as a single. 'Cherokee' - the tale of American indians having their land robbed by the white man - borrows shamelessly from Fred Neil's 'Everybody's Talkin''. And 'Hey''s 'every man is equal' message is powered by handclaps, dripping water and rhythms Downs made with his mouth.
Like the 'wherever I lay my cowboy hat...' drifter of its title, 'White Boy With A Feather' breezes into town, ruffles a few feathers, wins the odd heart and is gone, pretty much leaving the place as it was before. Not particularly life-changing or affirming in any way then, just a pleasant enough diversion.
