Album Spotlight: Vandoliers - The Native

From the first line of the first song, "I was born September 1st, in a little town outside Fort Worth" to the album closer "Weclome Home" the new Vandoliers album The Native is Texas through and through.

If you want to know what Texas music is all about, this album is a crash course. It takes snippets of Red Dirt, Southern Rock, Tejano, mariachi, Rockabilly, Texas swing, honky tonk, country, 80s pop rock, punk and beach/island music to create a diverse 10 song journey. Some of it may be a bit too inside baseball to resonate with everyone, such as the song "Pantego", but hell, if Cairo, IL can get a couple of songs recently, why not Pantego?

The Vandoliers are self aware and The Native never takes itself too seriously. Sure, there is some introspection and some nostalgia, but all in all, it's just fun summer fare with a perfect release date, the Friday before Memorial Day, which kind of indicates the beginning of summer in the United States.

The Native may not be for everyone, and frontman Joshua Fleming's vocals are unique, but they fit perfectly in the context of these songs.  The instrumentation and playing is spot-on throughout the album. This is just a fun album and these guys sound like they'd be great live.

Album Spotlight: Dalton Domino - Corners

Hailing from Lubbock, Texas, Dalton Domino's latest album Corners come out of the gate and straight into the swamp with the album-opening song "The River". That's both a bold move and a statement. A bold move because most people are expecting a Texas/Red Dirt album. A statement by letting it be known that this is not your run of the mill Texas/Red Dirt album.

Not my usual style, but I'm going to take this one almost song-by-song because it's diverse enough where there is no over-arching statement to be made about the album.

"The River" is a swampy, dark song with interesting instrumentation, replete with strings (or at least synthesized strings). After that the album settles into more of the pocket that you would expect from a Texas artist for a bit with the Southern Rock influenced "Decent Man", the modern Red Dirt of "Corners" and the easy pop country leanings of "July".

"More Than You" is an interesting musical journey. It starts out with the grit and groove of a Ray Wylie Hubbard song. Then it moves to a bluesier feel and ends up almost Motown, horns and all, while not changing the beat or tempo. In its texture, it's sublime.

"Rain" is a subtle, stripped down song about loss. Great in it's simplicity.

The funky guitar tone of "Sixteen Years" drives the verses of this Southern Rock-tinged song.

"Mine Again (I'd Be a Fool)" is the closest thing that comes to a skip-worthy song on the album, but it's really just too catchy to fall into that category. It kind of has a an 80's pop rock feel to it.

With "Sister" Dalton takes us back to the swamp with an almost "Juke Box Hero" verse vibe throughout the entire song. Then he stays there with the album closer "Monster" but brings in a Pink Floyd-like prog element.

Corners is the kind of album that always interests me. Diverse, and you never really know what to expect next. I know that some people want something with a more consistent sound. If so, this album is probably not for you. But, hey, here are a couple of songs, decide for yourself.

Album Spotlight: William Clark Green: Ringling Road

The new offering from Texas/Red Dirt artist William Clark Green is everything would expect from a good Texas/Red Dirt record. Country, raucous country, Southern rock. But what you also get from Ringling Road is a collection 11 very well-written songs, regardless of how you'd like to classify it.

The opening song on the record, "Next Big Thing", chronicles how hard the music industry is right now without sounding bitter.

"Creek Don't Rise" may be the most "country" sounding song on the record. And it's good. But that is followed by my favorite song on the album, the title track "Ringling Road" with its thinly veiled homage to the Grateful Dead song "Casey Jones". Or at least that's how I hear it, I have no insight, but with the lyrics:

The trapeze guys are all high on cocaine that they bought from the guy who used to drive the train

That reminds of this from "Casey Jones":

Drivin' that train, high on cocaine, Casey Jones you better watch your speed.

"Ringling Road", the song, also is the kind of loose, greasy stuff you might hear from Texas legend Ray Wylie Hubbard.

I really can't find a bad song in the bunch. It's the kind of record you can just put on and listen all the way through.

Here is the first lyric video from the album, "Sympathy":

Album Spotlight Whisky Myers: Early Morning Shakes

Led Zeppelin, early Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, ZZ Top. I can hear a little bit of all of those in Whiskey Myers new album Early Morning Shakes. But what I hear predominately is pure unadulterated Southern Rock. Skynyrd, the Allmans, Marshall Tucker, Molly Hatchet, etc.

Any song on this album would slide nicely into any classic rock format. But that's not to say it sounds dated. It doesn't. Early Morning Shakes sounds as current as anything you will hear.

Coming out of Tyler, Texas, Whiskey Myers cut their teeth on the Red Dirt/Texas Country music scene. And you can hear those country influences on the record, but this really a good old-fashioned, in-your-face, Southern Rock album. The best since the late '70's.

The album kicks off with what, in my opinion, is the weakest track, the title song "Early Morning Shakes". But then the whole thing takes off and never lets off the gas with the Zeppelinesque "Hard Row to Hoe".

Another highlight is the single "Home" (track 5). Straight up Southern Rock the way it was meant to be played. That leads in to the next two hard rocking tracks "Headstone" and "Where the Sun Don't Shine".

"Reckoning" (track 8) and the album closing "Colloquy" show a more introspective and mellower side of the band. Both are excellent.

If you were ever wondering what happened to good Southern Rock, it's alive and well and it's name is Whiskey Myers. 

Music Find: Corey Smith

One of the joys of life is discovering new (or at least new to us) music.  We had that joy recently.

While listening to our local Texas Country station, we heard the song "Twenty One" by Corey Smith.  Which was quite confusing as he is neither from Texas nor (in our opinion) country.

Corey is a native of Georgia.  His music is more of a Jim Croce/Billy Joel hybrid than anything resembling country music, even in its current state of Southern Rock and pop delusion (and that, my friends is a whole 'nother post).

Smith is a master storyteller. His delivery is very southern and his voice unique.

For  fans of good music, we suggest checking out the video below of  "Twenty One".  For fans of crappy music, we also suggest checking it out in hopes of changing minds.