Sober Sundays, Irish goodbyes and bluegrass blessings.
‘Dalton Harper’ by Dalton Harper
Favourite release of the week! Ready to shout it from the rooftops! Criminally underrated! Wish nothing but the best for this guy! Seriously, I came across this album through the Zach Top feature on the George Strait cover (‘Rhythm of the Road’) and I am so glad I did. A bluegrass album that lyrically has a bit of a country feel, expertly executed from someone who has undoubtably grown up playing, singing and listening - and a band full of the same kind of people. This is one of those albums that I fell in love with immediately and one that I know I’ll be listening to on repeat, you can only imagine my joy when I realised there was a Desert Rose Band cover on this album too (‘Love Reunited’) – yeah, Strait AND Desert Rose Band. There’s enough love, longing, loss and long-drives on this album to please just about any fan of classic country and bluegrass – please give this one your time.
‘Visions of Dallas’ by Charley Crockett
Charley Crockett is proof that there’s just no limit to how much music you should release into the world when you have the talent to do it. The ‘Chapter 2’ of the $10 Cowboy album has a heavier honkytonk vibe with all songs having some kind of link to his home-state of Texas. It’s great. I know Crockett isn’t everyone’s type of music, but there is absolutely no denying that he’s one of the best in music at the minute. Cover of ‘Lonesome Feeling’ is an album highlight.
‘Sober Sundays’ by Wyatt Flores and The Castellows
A collab I perhaps didn’t see coming, but Wyatt’s slightly gravelly voice pairs almost too well with the dreamy blood harmonies of The Castellows. Written by the group, the song has some beautiful lyrics: ‘you used to stumble under expectations and lights in the street’ with a chorus promising you have someone that will stay for ‘sober Sundays’ – a nice alternative to the usual shame and regret of a Sunday night-after. Final chorus – gorgeous.
‘No One Else Like Me’ by The Red Clay Strays
A slightly more low-key follow up to their previous single, ‘Drowning’, but the dialling down of the rock guitar (until the outro) doesn’t lose any of the assuredness of the group’s sound. It’s releases like this that solidify their place in the ‘bringing real country back’ group they’ve been firmly put in. ‘I’m a dead man walking, a preacher talking about love and how to be free/ I’m a dying ghost with a heart like most, but lord there ain’t no one else like me’ – they know how to write.
‘Irish Goodbyes’ by Kacey Musgraves
This week Kacey announced a deluxe version of Deeper Well with seven extra songs, giving us the single ‘Irish Goodbyes’ as a taster of what’s to come. This is a nice song, it’s pretty, like the rest of Deeper Well was, but it’s maybe a little underwhelming? Part of me wishes to have Kacey get back into the country sound she’s so good at, she’s still got it – see her surprise performance of Buck Owen’s ‘Act Naturally’ at Robert’s Western World a couple weeks ago for reference.
‘Alimony’ by Miranda Lambert
Is Miranda’s upcoming album the thing to add a female touch to the male-dominated neotraditional country revival – maybe?! ‘If you’re gonna leave me in San Antone, remember the alimony’ – this is a witty, fun, honkytonk song with a nice heavy bass and a little piano solo – take us down to Texas, Miranda!
‘Southern Roots’ by American Aquarium (featuring Katie Pruitt)
For anyone who’s left the place they grew up in, (even if that’s not the American South) and struggle with the feelings of reversal whenever you go back, this is a song for you: ‘there’s a reason I don’t come back here, except a couple times a year, where familiarity and fear intertwine’. In this case, American Aquarium and Katie Pruitt are giving it another go and replanting their roots. Maybe not something I’ll be doing anytime soon, but it’s a moving song, I do wish Pruitt had a stronger presence on this song though.
