There was a time five or so years ago when Ricky Valente was just a guitar-slingin' kid, and a pretty good one. At 16, that Strat was glued to his digits, and all the time he put in learning the axe resulted in a pretty impressive show. A blues-rock prodigy, he could cop SRV and Hendrix licks convincingly enough to turn jaded audiences into true believers. Few could question the kid's ability to play.

But along the way, his style began to change. Ricky started distancing himself from his role as a blossoming guitar hero. He began seeing the world in terms of lyrics instead of licks, melody instead of riffs. As the years passed, Ricky became much more than what his potential had promised. Fact is, Ricky grew up.

"As you get older your eyes open," Ricky admits. "You see more things. I pay a lot more attention to what I'm saying now, because I have more to say."

Indeed, Ricky sees lots of things on Consolation, his second full-length album and third disc overall, including the six-song EP Live at Lupo's. It's a crucial step along Valente's career walk, a real milestone that will, with some luck and a few breaks, help to separate him from his guitar hero persona and establish him as one of the area's better modern-rock songwriters.

"I think the album just happened," he says, in an attempt to explain how he grew up so quickly and so convincingly. "These are the songs that came out when I sat down to write. I don't know how it evolved into this and, who knows? The next thing that comes out might change from here. It's hard to tell."

It isn't hard to tell that Valente is serious about his artistry. Consolation is a tactile, moody, and dynamic fusion of guitar, voice, and song. From the killer opening tune "Time" through the heartfelt shuffle of "Thinking Out Loud" and the crisp slasher "Please Believe," Valente has succeeded in capturing more of the subtle shades of the human condition rather than the black-and-white of rollicking chord progressions and guitar breaks. He gets extra points for the closing "Thinking Out Loud (Telephone)," a romantic, acoustic strum that brings the album down to a sweet cessation. "We ran it through vintage compressors to make it sound like vinyl without all the scratches; it's monophonic. We named it that because it sounds like someone playing a song through a telephone."

Perhaps listening to Coldplay and Radiohead has helped him realize a form of non-obvious songwriting. "How do you explain a feeling?" he asks, somewhat rhetorically. "It sounds stupid, but this stuff is definitely more vibe-y."

Though he produced the album himself at Sonalyst Studios in Waterford, Connecticut, no man is an island. Valente's crack band -- Dave Amaral on bass and Mike Levesque on drums, along with engineer recruit Jon D'Uva -- pulled some serious weight in the process. "It wouldn't have been possible without these guys," says Valente. "With Jon D'Uva, he's a total artist. I ask him for a certain sound and he brings it all up for me. We spent a lot of late nights hammering things out."

Producing the album did give Valente lots of freedom in the studio.

"Self-producing was different for me, but I loved every minute of it. It was very liberating. You could try stuff out in the studio any time you wanted. I'd be like, `Let's try this.' And if it worked out it worked out, and if it didn't it didn't. A producer is good to have around, of course, but ultimately I knew exactly how I wanted the recording to sound."

Valente has designs on taking Consolation and this growing, flourishing thing he calls a career as far as it goes, which by the look of it, is getting more and more promising with every album. Valente has signed up with NACA, the National Association of Collegiate Activities, which will introduce the Valente vibe to an all-important college demographic. "I'll take it as far as it'll go," he says matter-of-factly. "Will it crash and burn? Maybe. Probably, eventually. But right now, I wouldn't change a thing. Which is rare, I guess."

Ricky Valente's CD release party will take place Saturday (the 25th) at the Met Cafe. Admission is $7. Call 861-2142.

WANDERING EYE. We were looking forward to writing something nice about Donnybrook's upcoming EP, but instead we got some rather sobering news: If you all haven't gotten wind of it yet, the local heroes got into a pretty terrible car accident following their recent show in New York. The band and a few close friends are banged up pretty good, but OK. Our thoughts are with them for a massively fast recovery. This Friday's gig at Lupo's will be a benefit show to help raise money to cover the costs of medical treatment and gear replacement.

This Friday (the 24th), the Midnight Creeps return to the Green Room to duel with Nitro Records recording artists, the Lost City Angels. The show kicks off an East Coast tour for the Creeps in support of their latest, Doomed From the Get Go. In other Creepsville news, the band snuck into the studio to record a few new songs for a seven-inch picture disc called the The Kids Are Screamin'," which will emerge this spring on Rodent Popsicle Records.

Also this Friday, the Becky Chace Band will be playing Chan's in Woonsocket. The band will give away CD samplers to the first 50 people through the doors. The show is at 8; the cover is $7. Call 765-1900 for details.

Motormags will celebrate the release of their second album, the follow-up to the searing punk rock of Slummin' with the Riff Raff, this Saturday at the Tavern down in Newport. Check out www.motormagsrock.com for the latest and greatest news on the band's upcoming activities. Jackie O. and Illustrious Day will be playing this Saturday at the Green Room on a great bill that includes Immune and Jiya. Congrats to Jackie for securing publishing with BMI.

Let's all welcome Slugworth's new drummer. His name is Mark Ray (formerly of no band to speak of) and he'll be beatin' the crap out of his kit playin' along to Satyr's big ol' kick-ass rock tunes. He'll debut with the band on February 1 at the Living Room. Looking forward to their 20th anniversary this year, the Rhode Island-based ensemble Pendragon returns to Stone Soup Coffeehouse on Saturday at Slater Mill. The show will begin at 8 p.m. and tickets are $10.

Still more on Saturday . . . Sage Francis, Grüvis Malt, MC Squared (a four time "Live at the Apollo" champ/beatbox dude), and the Providence Poetry Slam Team play an all-ages show at Lupo's in an installment of the "Live Band, Dead Poet" tour. It's $12 at the door.

And lastly, also this Saturday, the Marlowes and Grandizer Punch hit the Blackstone in Cumberland, with rising star Natalie Flanagan. All for only $5.

E-mail me your music news at big.daddy1@cox.net.

Issue Date: January 24 - 30, 2003