If That Ain't Country

In this week's episode, we're featuring a labour of love from Laura Cash: "Awake But Dreaming" (2010). A fine collection of western swing and traditional country covers from this talented fiddler and Oregon native and one time daughter-in-law to the great Johnny Cash, this release is complemented wonderfully with well-chosen cameos. Fellow fiddlers The Quebe Sisters join in the fun on two cuts and Bobby Flores' excellent harmonies are all over this album; Jason Carter duets with Cash on a Benny Martin tune added to Joey McKenzie's rhythm guitar on a couple of tracks. Backed by the best studio musicians you could hope for - all of these folks are connections that Laura Cash has made since a well-timed move to Nashville in 1989. She made friends with some of country music's greats at a time when many were still around and getting recognition, and she's got the stories and pictures to prove it. "Awake But Dreaming" is Cash's way of keeping the tradition of country music's forefathers alive, and she does an excellent job with fiddle licks and a rootsy vocal you can sink your teeth into. Highlights include the original and touching tribute to her friend Roy Acuff in "Song For Roy (Country Music's King)"; a toe-tapping arrangement of Ray Price's "Who'll Be The First" and a couple of Bob Wills tunes in "Awake But Dreaming" and "The Image Of Me".

In this week's episode, we're featuring the twangy breakout album from David Ball, "Thinkin' Problem" (1994). After earning respect from countless musical quarters and partly kick-starting the alt-country movement from his time with Uncle Walt's Band in the 70s and 80s, David Ball was encouraged to move to Nashville and pursue country music after hearing Randy Travis on the radio in about 1986. Eight years later, including a false start with RCA Records - producer Blake Chancey liked what he heard, and Ball cut "Thinkin' Problem" with Warner Brothers to great success. Our feature album sold a million copies at a time when the neo-traditional movement was on the wane, and spawned a Top 5, Top 10, Top 20 and two further singles. Ball's hardcore honky tonk sound appealed to country fans, and it was original music too - he wrote or co-wrote nine of "Thinkin' Problems" ten tracks, opting to include a Webb Pierce cover to round out the album cuts to let listeners know where he was coming from musically. The album stands the test of time, too: highlights include the pun-a-licious "Blowin' Smoke", the alluring neon nurses in "Honky Tonk Healin'" and a strangely uptempo crawler "Don't Think Twice". Years later, when Ball was asked if he ever got sick of playing "Thinkin' Problem" live, he answered emphatically: 'Hell, no. I think it's one of the best country songs I've ever heard." Well said!

In this week's episode, we're featuring a landmark album in what would later become known as the western swing revivalist movement: Merle Haggard's sensational "My Tribute To The Best Damn Fiddle Player In The World (or, My Salute To Bob Wills)" (1970). Along with Jimmie Rodgers and Lefty Frizzell, Bob Wills was one of The Hag's primarily influences. A young Haggard even snuck out of his home at age 12 to go see Wills play at the famous Beardsley Ballroom, such was the influence from a very formative age. Armed with a fiddle he only took a few months to learn - a fiddle which once belonged to Bob Wills himself - Haggard, in discussion with Roy Nichols and Norm Hamlet of his band The Strangers, decided a tribute to "The Old Man" could only be done properly with the help of those who were there to make the sound in the first place. Johnny Gimble, Joe Holley, Eldon Shamblin, Tiny Moore and others graciously and eagerly agreed to be a part of this project and "The Best Damn Fiddle Player" is generally accepted as the first mainstream album to kickstart the western swing revival, still very much alive today. The enjoyment had on this collection of Wills standards (with a few choice obscurities) is evident, and legend has it that at the end of the three-day recording session, such was the emotion in the room that when the final note was played, you could see a tear in the eye of most all the pickers there. That's the soul of country music and western swing right there.

In this week's episode, we're featuring a great neo-traditional album from Tracy Byrd: "Love Lessons" (1995). Three albums in, a number one under his belt and some of the catchiest novelty songs of 90s country radio, Byrd had arrived. But Tracy Byrd was far more than detractors of the "Watermelon Crawl" might give him credit for - he had some geniune talent, a nice guy persona that always goes a long way in show biz and a very talented road band. Mark Nesler, the guitar picker in Byrd's "Only Way To Fly" band co-wrote three of the tracks on the album (two with Byrd himself); and you know when writers like Bill Anderson, Melba Montgomery and Max D. Barnes are submitting songs onto your third studio album that you must be doing something right. A radio-friendly baritone to match a PR-friendly smile helped Tracy Byrd to three Top twenty singles from "Love Lessons", but in this reviewer's opinion, the real gold lies in it's album tracks. "You Lied To Me" is a two-stepper that would fit in well at Tracy Byrd's former home of Cutter's nightclub in Beaumont, TX; "Don't Need That Heartache" keeps the blood flowing, as does the peppy "Walkin' In" and the belly-rubber "Heaven In My Woman's Eyes" displays some sensational acoustic guitar flourishes on top of some buttery brushes. A really good album.

In this week's episode we're featuring the first in a trilogy of bluegrass albums that Dolly Parton released around the turn of the century: "The Grass Is Blue" (1999). After Decca Nashville closed their doors in 1998, Dolly found herself without a record deal for the first time in thirty years. She had talked about doing a legacy bluegrass project in the past, but now was the time. Teaming with Sugar Hill Records, she assembled some of the best pickers you can name, some well chosen covers and four of her own compositions and punched out what some might call her best solo album since the early 70s. Jerry Douglas on dobro wrote: "Dolly's performance brought this cream of the crop band leaping to it's feet. I consider it an honour to have been part of this project and see its culmination to be a momentous shot in the arm for bluegrass music." And he wasn't lying: with Dolly's starpower, her wonderful trembly warble and Appalachian heritage, she's made for bluegrass: this album has been partly credited with a surge in popularity in bluegrass music around the year 2000. Listen in and you'll see why.

In this week's episode, we're featuring the first album in nine years from Nashville transplant Bobby Marquez, "The Cowboy Way" (2018). Hailing from the deep south of Texas, he moved to Nashville in the late 90s to pursue the country music dream. Nicknamed "Smilin'" Bobby Marquez by WSM legend Keith Bilbrey, his positive attitude has come in handy since his move to Music City: signed to two major labels and dropped from both for reasons beyond his control, with some help from his wife and Texas Country Music DJ Hall Of Famer Jennifer Herron, Marquez founded his own label and did things his own way. Playing by his own rules has worked well for him: winning awards and entertaining crowds worldwide with his easy traditional style that brings to mind the heyday of George Strait and Alan Jackson (he's had songs recorded by both) - "The Cowboy Way" is a solid dose of originality, with highlights including the bouncy "What's The Deal"; a great duet with fellow Texan Johnny Rodriguez on one of that man's first hits, "Ridin' My Thumb To Mexico"; a fun opener in "Honky Tonk" and a dedication to his late father-in-law on "The Cowboy Way". Solid.

In this week's episode, we're featuring the fourth album from a staple at the legendary Broken Spoke Dancehall in Austin, TX - Weldon Henson, and his sensational "Honky Tonk Frontier" (2015). Henson and his band have held down the popular "Two-Steppin' Tuesday" slot at the Spoke for some time now, regularly packing in several hundred of Austin's best dancers. It's no surprise then, that his music is primed to dance to - telecaster and steel-driven original "Texas made honky tonk" as Weldon Henson himself calls it. And speaking of steel - "Honky Tonk Frontier" was recorded at Cherry Ridge Studios in Floresville, TX: owned by Tommy Detamore, an accomplished steel guitarist himself, and featuring co-production by the steeler on the record itself in Ricky Davis. With that much C6 & E9 influence in the control room and in the studio, you know you're in for some hardcore traditional country music. Featuring Weldon's regular road band on the album was a smart move too.. these guys gel wonderfully. Highlights include the pumping "Heartache Game", a pair of good old drinking songs in "Hey Bottle Of Whiskey" and "I Need Wine" and the almost wistful "Just Believe". Can't wait for Weldon Henson's next effort.

In this week's episode, we're celebrating an iconic label: Don Pierce's Starday Records. Formed in the early 50s by Lefty Frizzell's manager Jack Starns and Houston record distributor Pappy Daily (Starns + Dailey = Starday), they signed some of the best purveyors of hardcore honky tonk and traditional country, western, bluegrass and gospel music around at the time. Aften Don Pierce became label president, Starday's product was perfected. Known for their vivid and colourful album covers, featuring easy-to-understand situations and many-a-rhinestone cowboy suit - acts "discovered" on the Starday roster included George Jones, Dottie West, Roger Miller and Justin Tubb. They also gave new leases of life to many veteran artists deemed "past it" by much of the Nashville establishment: Cowboy Copas, Johnny Bond, The Willis Brothers, Red Sovine and many others enjoyed some of the biggest hits of their careers under the Starday umbrella. Our feature album this week - 1963's double LP set "Starday: Country & Western Golden Hit Parade" - reminds us why we should be grateful that the team at Starday gave chances and second chances to some of country music's most revered names.

In this week's episode, we're remembering a name that is too often left out of conversations about western swing: Jack Guthrie. Our feature album this week is Capitol's 1966 retrospective: "Jack Guthrie - His Greatest Songs", featuring twelve dynamite western swingers from his extremely short recording career (1944-1947). Born in Oklahoma in 1915 and a cousin to the famous Woody Guthrie, Jack's family moved around - the age of nineteen found him married on the West Coast, singing and entertaining in cafes and bars while pursuing a rodeo dream. After hearing Guthrie's easy-going hillbilly tenor, Capitol's Lee Gillette signed him to a recording deal in 1944, and the likeable Okie recorded his first and biggest hit "Oklahoma Hills" shortly after. Uncle Sam saw him whisked overseas before he could enjoy his new found national fame, but between then and his untimely passing from tuberculosis in 1947, he cut some sensational sides. With overdubbed honky tonk brushes a la Hank Thompson of the same era, Capitol have an excellent look at a career cut short - and as if Jack Guthrie needed anymore credibility, the original LP has some extremely candid liner notes written by his personal friend: the iconic Merle Travis. Turn it up.

This week we're featuring the follow-up to one of the biggest selling albums of the 80s: Randy Travis' "Old 8x10" (1988). It was of course the answer to "Always & Forever", which sold five million copies and hatched four number ones - it was always going to be a hard act to follow. However, "Old 8x10" certainly did well.. three number ones and two million in sales - Randy got a pay day, don't worry about that. There was a continuation of style too - lots of pedal steel, dobro and fiddle all sit wonderfully around Randy Travis' most unique of vocals. Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz (the duo that brought us "Forever And Ever, Amen") are back with country's answer to "River Deep, Mountain High" in "Deeper Than The Holler"; "Written In Stone" must've been considered at thousands of weddings; the playful "Is It Still Over?" and "We Ain't Out Of Love Yet" add some pace, but the real gem for this reviewer is the stripped-back final track of the album. "Promises" is reduced to almost just a guitar and that smooth baritone and remains one of the most emotional entries in Travis’ back-catalogue. Sensational album.