Man From Waco, The

In 'Waco, Crockett (distant relative of Davy) provides a modern Americana sound while remaining faithful to classic country styling in a way that would make Hank proud. As usual, the secret sauce is his mellifluous baritone which is as deep as his cowboy hat is tall. What's new though is recording 'live to tape' with his red hot touring band, The Blue Drifters. The result is an energetic, yet eerie sound that he calls 'Gulf and Western Music', after the movie outfit, because of the disk's spaghetti western feel. Thematically it is inspired by Jim Jarmusch's 1995 revisionist Western Dead Man film in which a man attempts to escape the consequences of accidentally killing the woman he loves while in a jealous rage. Stylistically it includes classic country, e.g. Cowboy Candy, country blues with I'm just a Clown and cowboy jazz with Trinity River. One thing the tracks share though is that they will make you feel like you are the one galloping across the hot, dusty Texas plains trying to escape the sheriff as you listen.

RIYL: Rodney Crowell, Sun Volt, Jon Langford

1 'Waco Theme - spaghetti western style instrumental

2 Cowboy Candy - fun, toe tapper with jangly slide work (slow, 3:20)***

3 'Cottonwood Trees - spare acoustic instrumentation in this ballad shows off his vocals (slow, 2:54)**

4 Just Like Honey - energetic & soulful with Booker T. vibe with a slide (fast, 3:45)***

5 Just a Clown - sultry R&B groove with big horns (slow, 3:44)***

6 Black Sedan - lovely slide/piano interplay in break (slow, 3:25)**

7 Man From Waco - old west feel with haunting mariachi horns nicely complement his deep vocal styling (slow, 3:46)***

8 Trinity River - hot, jazzy horn/percussion arrangement with cool piano accents (fast, 4:30)***

9 Tom Turkey - loosely based on Dylan's Pecos Blues (slow, 3:32)*

10 Odessa - slow, classic country style with stellar vocals (slow, 3:19)***

11 All The Way From Atlanta - classic country style (slow, 3:25)**

12 Horse Thief Mesa - haunting with Spanish guitar & jangly piano (med, 2:22, )*

13 July Jackson - tragic but beautiful story of wife killing husband with gentle orchestration (slow, 3:02)**

14 'Waco Finale - instrumental (0:33, )

15 Name on a Billboard - fun, classic country toe tapper about making it big in LA (fast, 3:00)**