Jason Hawk Harris – Love & the Dark
Another stellar artist from Blood Shot records. He sounds a bit like Jason Isbell, carries with him a Lyle Lovett swagger, and composes a song with the best of them. I will stand on Steve Earle’s coffee table and call out Love & the Dark as one of the best Americana records of 2019.
Tanya Tucker – While I’m Living
Somewhat unbelievably, this is Tanya Tucker’s first set of original songs in 17 years. With production help from Brandi Carlisle and Shooter Jennings on tunes like “Bring My Flowers Now,” a song where Tanya sounds a bit like Lucinda, and “The Wheels of Laredo” that give us all hope that we might be seeing a Johnny Cash/Rick Rubin type career resurrection right before our very ears.
Vince Gill – Okie
When Vince Gill settles into his vocal pocket on a song like he does here over an entire album, the results can be glorious. Stepping out from his Eagles gig, the Oklahoma roots are showing on just about all of these 12 stellar tunes. Highlights abound, but “A World Without Haggard” and “Nothin’ Like A Guy Clark Song” stand above the rest. This Okie has still got it!
Sheer Mag – A Distant Call
From the opening salvo of “Steel Sharpens Steel,” the first song out of the chute here, you are hit between the ears with a Rock and Roll steamroller of a singer that roars like the devil spawn of Suzi Quatro and Joan Jett fronting Thin Lizzy. And yes, this much awaited album is as much of a brilliant guilty pleasure as you would think it would be.
Midland – Let It Roll
The agony of having to wait for the full album after the release of several ear enticing singles is finally over. Think Glen Campbell Rhinestone Cowboy era Country Style with this band of stellar musicians out of Dripping Springs Texas. We have tried very hard not to like this band and are failing miserably.
