Texas

Texas – Rodney Crowell (as told by Mr. Bones)

Given that it includes the likes of Steve Earle, Willie Nelson, Billy F. Gibbons, Lyle Lovett, Vince Gill and Lee Ann Womack, one might think his great style would be diluted on this disk but the sound is 100% Crowell. Perhaps it is having the help of his fellow Texans that makes this celebration of his beloved home state so dang good. Always the consummate story teller he paints an intriguing picture of his state whether its the flatland hillbillies of the gulf coast, the magic of a fish fry or the depression era dirt farmer going to work for Brown & Root in order to feed his family.

RIYL: Robert Earl Keen, James McMurtry

1 Flatland Hillbillies – uptempo, semi-autobiographical ode to the working class folks of the Texas Gulf area (med, 3:05)**
2 Caw Caw Blues - smokin’ hot gut bucket blues number (med, 3:11)*
3 56 Fury – hard driving road house sound lead by Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) on guitar about a killer muscle car (med, 3:50)
4 Deep In The Heart Of Uncertain Texas – enchanting tale of a Texas fish fry with dreamy mandolin & fiddle setting an ole time theme (slow,3:18)***
5 Your Only Happy When Your Miserable – hard rockin’ tale of love lost (fast, 3:24)
6 I’ll Show Me - killer piano over soft vocals on this tale of a looser who thinks that he’s a player (med, 4:03)*
7 What You Gonna Do Now – duet with Lyle Lovett with nice bridge (fast, 3:16)
8 The Border – Gut wrenching tale about the plight of immigrants on the Texas border as seen through eyes of a border agent with etherial Tex-Mex accompaniment (slow, 5:34)***
9 Treetop Slim & Billy Lowgrass – dreamy story of two outlaws pursued by the Texas Rangers with soaring fiddle work (med, 3:00)
10 Brown & Root, Brown & Root - bone chilling duet with Steve Earl about a dirt farmer having to work on a road crew in order to feed a family (slow, 3:39)***
11 Texas Drought – dystopian tale about climate change with simple, yet haunting guitar work (med, 3:48)***

Online:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMF1dpygnq0&list=OLAK5uy_koGLaR9NCE8r3zk837rthoSQ30cy0Gzms