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Oklahoma musician John Calvin Abney forges a hopeful tone with new album 'Safe Passage' A version of this story appears in Friday's Weekend Life section of The Oklahoman. To read my interview with Beau Jennings, click here.  John Calvin Abney sets hopeful tone with second album in two years, 'Safe Passage' John Calvin Abney's brain sometimes just gets full. "I just felt like I needed to get another collection of tunes out. I had a lot to say, and I write all the time, wherever I am. There's only so much brain space, so you just write it down and...

10 Best Country and Americana Songs of the Week: Lauren Alaina, John Calvin Abney John Calvin Abney, “Maybe Happy”Written during a European tour with John Moreland, “Maybe Happy” nods to Elliott Smith with its woozily lush arrangement and classic pop turns. The song’s accompanying album, Safe Passage, was released shortly after the death of Abney’s father, and “Maybe Happy” — the record’s closer — feels like a farewell to a longtime friend, with its nostalgic haze and warm, bittersweet bite. ROBERT CRAWFORD

Perfectly positioned so that each song takes you on a continuously looping journey, the new album is a front-to-back artistic assemblage that is a callback to classic albums that Abney himself has worn out on the turntable such as Bob Dylan’s “Blood On The Tracks.” And while there were some 20 other songs that ultimately didn’t make the record and instead ended up in his curious box of wayward songs, the Norman, Oklahoma native is never sorry to see them go.

Abney’s opening line announces the work he’s come to do on Safe Passage, departing from the archetypes and expectations others have placed on the 30-year-old singer-songwriter over the years and into a space he’s created for himself.