After bringing us the critically praised acoustic 3 Chords and The Truth The Georgia soulster returns with his sophomore release The Red Clay Chronicles an album with a sound all it's own. David's vocal ability was given center stage on his previous album and some fans were worried that the production on his latest offering would overshadow his voice. Nope...with his vocal presence as bright as ever he brings us tales of love, mischief, and day to day life. Initially when I heard about David he was being compared to another more famous Anthony from the south....Hamilton, but after listening to "Smoke One" it became quite clear. Different voice, different lyrics, different sound, different style, in fact sharing southern roots and a first name is about the only thing these two have in common.

The Red Clay Chronicles is a beautiful, balanced mix of ballads, up tempo musings and sitting on the front porch songs. You can tell by the song order that this was a carefully planned out release with songs running seamlessly into each other and almost sounding like the soundtrack to a nice summer day. For me track 2 is where the magic happens, not that there's anything wrong with "Stop Playin' " the 1st track on the album, in fact it's pretty good, but "Smoke One" is an instant classic. Rich production, great vocals, beautiful, simple lyrics and a killer hook combined to embed the track in my long-term memory. Other bright spots include: "Everything Is Everything" a light brass filled number, "Words" a wonderful ballad with AD sharing mic time with India Arie, "On and On" a piece about waking up to the one you love and "Red Clay Chronicles" a Marvin Gaye like socially conscious track.

As a follow up to 3 Chords and The Truth, The Red Clay Chronicles is great, as a first introduction to AD it might even be better. Definitely a must have for fans of soul music, independent soul music at it's finest.