rodney crowell is probably best known for his songwriting, having written hit songs for everyone from waylon jennings (‘i ain’t living long like this’) to bob seger (‘shame on the moon’), but he is a very talented musician as well. on his most recent release, he dives in to his rolodex and calls in some favors to flesh out a sort of tribute album to the state he was born and raised in, ‘texas’.

eleven songs about characters and regions of the lone star state, delivered in a wide range of musical styles. the guest list includes such luminaries as willie nelson, lyle lovett, billy gibbons, vince gill, lee ann womack, and ringo starr. he also shares some songwriting credits, most notably the late guy clark on ‘caw caw blues’. and mary karr (author of ‘liars’ club’) on ‘flatland hillbillies’. crowell says the inspiration for the album came about as the result of a twenty year conversation with steve earle.

crowell had written something called ‘brown and root, brown and root’, a song about a construction worker in the sixties. he had shared it with earle, and earle started playing it on tour. it was never recorded until now, and the rest of the songs just seemed to fall into place. a great introduction to his work, if you are not familiar with him.

i remember when my friend jimmy z and i first heard about tyler childers. we had headed down to mt. vernon to check out a small folk festival, with my primary goal being to meet nikki lane in person. that never happened (shocking, i know), but we did spend some time backstage with a band whose name escapes me now. they had played at another festival in kentucky the night before, and let us know that there was a kid down there that they guaranteed would be the next best thing. so i rattled the intertubes when i got back home, and found out that he had a new album out, so i bought it.

tyler childers’ 2017 breakout album was ‘purgatory’. i was quite in agreement with that band’s assessment of his talent. born in paintsville, kentucky, son of a strip miner, he had been busking around town and hitting the road a bit. his drummer made sure that sturgill simpson would be at one of the venues when they played nashville, and they hit it off. sturgill roped in johnny cash’s engineer david ferguson,  got a few bluegrass studio vets, and got at it. but that is all a background to tyler’s real talents – a gifted songwriter with a remarkable attention to detail, and a voice steeped in appalachia.

that album caught hold, jumped to number 17 on the country charts, and soon he was opening for john prine and margo price. he was named 2018 emerging artist of the year at the americana awards.

simpson and ferguson are back again for this one, and many of the same musicians. it is a collection of nine songs that he has road tested for a while now, and it solid from cover to cover. tyler had been listening to allen toussant’s ‘southern nights’ album from 1975, his tribute to his local creole evenings. tyler wanted to do the same style but set in kentucky. i was not aware of that album, but i am now.

tyler’s songs are mostly set in small towns and bars and backwoods, and many of the characters are struggling in some fashion. although once again these are bluegrass musicians, they sure don’t sound like that here. rather, they often sound like that ‘country band that plays for keeps’, down at the bar in town. i can’t say enough about this guy. please give him your ear.

oh, and his videos are quite interesting.

this is bruce’s first album in five years, and it has a sound like nothing else in his immense catalog. he is the first to acknowledge that he drew his inspiration from the ‘countrypolitan’ style of glen campbell and jimmy webb in the late sixties. the overall composition is a mixture of bruce’s typical characters and themes, embellished with a backdrop of music that evokes the expansiveness of the american west, and dressed up with lush strings in many parts.

the string arrangements can be a little over the top sometimes, but that is really my only cautionary advice when approaching this new output from him. the songwriting is right up there with some of his best, and his vocal delivery is still spot on, considering he is approaching 70 this fall.

maybe my favorite track is the shortest, and starkest. ‘somewhere north of nashville’ is a tale of a failed songwriter who wonders if all the sacrifices he made chasing his dream was really worth it. a realization of how quickly you can lose everything.

the title of ‘western stars’ is a phrase that comes from ‘ulysses’, a nineteenth century poem by lord tennyson that springsteen has drawn from before. the poem is narrated by a hero approaching old age, returning from a long journey only to realize he really rather prefers being on the road. and so he heads out one more time.

see you on the road, bruce.

people often ask me, ‘where do you find all of this music?’. i might write a whole blog post someday to help answer that question, but suffice it to say that i get inspiration from an awful lot of places. i keep a wish list of artists that have caught my ear, and then every couple of weeks or so i spend some time reviewing who is on that list, and then order three or four cds at a time. i am not sure where i first heard of rosie, but there must have been sufficient evidence to add her to the ‘buy’ category, and i waited for it to come out a couple of weeks ago. february 15th was a big release day, including this one, and so rosie – an artist i had never heard of before- had to wait behind the two previous posts i did on that day’s release list (tedeschi trucks and hayes carll) to get some consideration. as good as those two albums are, i can easily say i am enjoying this one maybe just as much. it is just a fun and fresh sound, a culmination of a career in the trenches and a great back up team of musicians and producers. as she says in the video below, she wants people to listen and be happy. it is hard not to.

this album showcases three of her obvious strengths. first, she is a top rate vocalist. not in the sense of the prima donnas from the tv talent shows, but in her seasoned and sexy contralto that can switch easily through all the styles that are presented here – rockabilly, western swing, classic soul, and memphis blues. second, she is an outstanding guitarist. she can shred. third, due to her long and respected career and her tremendous connections, she has put together an amazing supporting cast.  there is not a wasted note here, it is all so immaculately played and produced. it just has a wonderful feel to it. co-produced by kenny vaughn (marty stuart band), charlie sexton (bob dylan), and dave roe (johnny cash), it was recorded in austin and nashville. those three also lend their hands in playing on the album, most notably kenny vaughn trading guitar licks with rosie on many of the cuts. flores co-wrote three of the songs, and the rest are covers with a wide variety of styles. being a big rolling stones fan when she was young, the first song she learned how to play was their cover of wilson pickett’s ‘if you need me’, and so she includes that here to close out the set.

so check her out, and maybe take a flyer on her like i did. if you do like it, look her up and see about her career. she seems like a pretty remarkable person. she has been a staple of the texas bar scene for over thirty years, and she has bottled all that up for you here.

it has been three years since hayes released ‘lovers and leavers’, an album that explored his recent divorce, self medication, and fatherhood. ‘what it is’ finds him returning to his earlier work, including more character songs, his trademark self deprecating humor, and a few roadhouse country rockers. all bookended by a couple of love songs, inspired by his new fiancee, allison moorer.

carll’s career seemed to be on the brink of stardom after his 2011 release, ‘kmag yoyo’, but his unhealthy habits on the road and the collapse of his marriage seemed to derail him, unfortunately. i thought ‘lovers and leavers’ was good, but i am really enjoying this one. this is his sixth studio album – i have all of them – and i think this ranks with his best work. one of the things i noticed on this one is his sharing of songwriting credits with other writers, a trend that is becoming much more common in his new hometown of nashville. foremost among them is moorer, who co-wrote half of the twelve songs (she also co-produced the album). the songs about relationships seem to have a theme of being honest about themselves and to each other, possibly reflecting their recent divorces (allison had recently left her ex husband steve earle).

maybe the best example of the power of co-writing is ‘jesus and elvis’, a song set in lala’s, a dive bar carll used to frequent in north austin.

written by carll, moorer, and matraca berg in 2016, it was originally recorded by kenny chesney on his #1 country album, ‘cosmic hallelujah’. it may be the best song on the album, along with the title cut.

the two songs that have the least appeal to me are near the end, ‘fragile men’ and ‘wild pointy finger’. here he enters into some political musings, and i think he doesn’t quite seem to get his point across, although his polemics are more subtle and sly than what i seem to hear today.

as he mentions in the title track, ‘what it was is gone forever, what it could be god only knows, what it is is right here in front of me, and i’m not letting go’. he seems to be in a good place for now, and this is a great addition to your collection, whether you are a long time fan of his work like i am or a newcomer to his material.