Sad news out of Atlanta.

I’m not a huge fan of Col. Bruce Hampton‘s music overall, but his influence cannot be overstated.  And his Cold Mountain is one of my favorite songs.

As best as I can tell.

I’ve been anxiously awaiting the release of Sarah Shook & the Disarmers‘ new record, Sidelong.  Well, let me tell you friends: it was worth the wait.

This is a fucking excellent record.

I could stop at that, and have the most accurate record review ever written.  Or I could add that a record hasn’t made me want to guzzle whiskey this much since Decoration Day.  Or that I can’t decide which is more perfect, the songwriting, the playing or the (fantastic) arrangements.  One thing I’ve learned as a songwriter is that there’s a lot of sausage making in the recording studio.  I’ve had songs evolve into excellent songs and I’ve had songs devolve into horrible songs, all thanks to the way they’re arranged and played.  Whoever made the sausage on this record is a master chef of boozy, alt. country, rocking ear cuisine.

Want a taste?

“My momma used to tell me to buck up.  I guess I’m just too much of a fuck up.”  And it gets better.  Holy shit.

The studio version of Sidelong is just as excellent as I expected.  It’s a whisky-fueled lament to everything that might have been OK, and everything that wasn’t.  Dwight Yoakam is a slow burning alt. country number that lives up to its anxious namesake. “She left me nothing but heartache and tears.  She took every last one of my good years.”  Yep.

There’s more, but I’ll just finish with a thought that stayed in my head the first time I listened to this record.  In this day of pop-sounding, watered-down country music and computer-generated, auto-tuned gibberish on the radio,  we should all be thankful that there are young folks out there making music like this.

Purchase Links:

Amazon
iTunes

Then you started staying in
I guess you turned to God again
I sure hope He’s good to you this time

My favorite song of all-time changes several times a week, but as of April 8, 2017 at 5:08 p.m., this is it.  Doc Dailey & Magnolia Devil‘s 2012 record, Catch the Presidents, is one of the best records ever recorded.  Every song is at least a 9.5.

In any amusement hall.

When you hear something new and amazing, it’s a before and after moment.  You know it, instinctively.  I love rock and rollers playing country.  This is fantastic.  I cannot wait to buy this record.

This is so, so good.

Sarah Shook and The Disarmers.  From Chapel Hill, in North Carolina.