CD Reviews for 10/10/07 – Roger Wallace,Cowboy Jack Clement, Starline Rhythm Boys
Compact Capsules for 10/10/07
by Dan Ferguson
by Dan Ferguson
Roger Wallace
It’s About Time
Natchez Street RW-6000
What with it five years since his last longplayer, the title of under-the-radar honky tonker Roger Wallace’s new album is quite appropriate. Listening to the crafty songs comprising this latest, his fourth overall, it appears to have been time well spent. Wallace traverses familiar thematic territory on It’s About Time working his bourbon smooth baritone to perfection. It’s all complimented by some of Austin’s finest from the C&W side of the tracks who provide stellar accompaniment. Looking for a solid, straightahead country record? Search no further than It’s About Time. (Visit www.rogerwallace.com)
Cowboy Jack Clement
Shakespeare Was A Big George Jones Fan DVD
Shout Factory!
One-time New England bluegrass boy, student of recording and production under the tutelage of the legendary Sun Records ramrod Sam Phillips, the writer of songs like “Guess Things Happen That Way”, “Ballad Of a Teenage Queen” and “Just Between You & Me”, discoverer of Charley Pride, and recording pioneer what with establishing his legendary Cowboy Arms Hotel & Recording Spa in his Nashville home, Cowboy Jack Clement ought to have a statue in his honor in Nashville. Shakespeare Was A Big George Jones Fan is an insightful and entertaining look at this trailblazer done up home-movie style. If you don’t know about him, you darn should ought to with this DVD the perfect place to start. (Visit www.cowboyjackclement.com)
Starline Rhythm Boys
Red’s Place
Cow Island Music CIM005
Phish may get all the notoriety as Vermont bands go, but based on stats alone the “house” band is hands-down the Starline Rhythm Boys. Playing nearly 150 dates per year inside Vermont lines, the SRBs have enchanted countless with their vintage 100-proof country music drawing equally from rockabilly as it does bluegrass. The 16-track Red’s Place plays like some long lost country station on the AM band. In other words, a breath of fresh country air in this age of homogenized country crap. (Visit www.starlinerhythmboys.com)
(Dan Ferguson is a free-lance music writer and host of The Boudin Barndance, broadcast Thursday nights from 6 – 9 pm on WRIU-FM 90.3. He lives in Peace Dale and can be reached at [email protected].)