OUT THIS WEEK
Kevin Fowler, “Coming to a Honky Tonk Near You” (Thirty Tigers). Not quite a full-length album but not quite an EP either, this eight-song collection clocks in at 26 minutes, as Fowler churns through three-minute Texas country twangers given a close polish by producer Trent Willmon. It’s all pretty predictable stuff, which means longtime Fowler fans should love it, even the corny lyrics of “The Bouncer” (“karate moves”?) and the bro-country parody “Sellout Song” (featuring Zane Williams and released earlier this year as a single). Fowler hits a more sentimental note on the ballad “Livin’ Proof” and kicks out a sure-fire boot-scooter on “Honky Tonk Near You.” Playing Dec. 30 at Wild West Cedar Park. Here’s the video for “Texas Forever,” the highlight of a short acoustic Facebook Live set Fowler played in front of the Texas Capitol on Thursday:
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Hickoids, “The Out of Towners” EP (Saustex). The last sessions featuring colorful guitarist Davy Jones, who died of cancer last year, comprise covers of six songs by Texas artists that illustrate the long-running corn-punk outfit’s culture-clash identity. Rambling from Roky Erickson’s “I Have Always Been Here Before” to Willie Nelson’s “Night Life” to the Dicks’ “Dead in a Motel Room,” the Hickoids manage the uneasy feat of making all those disparate influences feel compatible. Doug Sahm’s “At the Crossroads” is an ideal closing statement, given how Sahm’s work remains the greatest testament to the crossbred spirit of Texas music. The inclusion of Rich Minus’ “Cans” is a welcome salute to an oft-forgotten Lone Star legend, and Terry Allen’s “I Just Left Myself Today” seems a fitting final word for the beloved Jones. Here’s their take on the Willie classic:
Madeline Jennings, “Trouble” EP. Five songs that touch on each corner of the Americana singer-songwriter’s foundation, from twangy folk (“Mary”) to swinging blues (“Long Gone Blues”) to rowdy country (“Green Eyes”) to different shades of rock (the bookending tracks “Crows” and “Trouble”). Release show Oct. 21 at Grizzly Hall. Here’s “Green Eyes”:
COMING SOON
OCT. 28: Brownout, “Brown Sabbath, Vol. 2,” release show Oct. 29 at Scoot Inn, in-store Nov. 1 at Waterloo Records.
OCT. 28: Rick Broussard’s Two Hoots & a Holler, “Time Has Shown Me,” release show Oct. 29 at ABGB.
OCT. 28: Croy & the Boys, “Hey Come Back,” release show Oct. 29 at Hotel Vegas.
OCT. 28: Major Major Major, “PG-13 Movie” (Punctum), release show Oct. 28 at Cheer Up Charlie’s.
OCT. 28: Bonnie Whitmore, “(Expletive) With Sad Girls,” playing Nov. 10 at One-2-One Bar.
OCT. 28: “Highway Prayer: A Tribute to Adam Carroll” (Eight 30). In-store Oct. 26 at Waterloo Records with James McMurtry, Gordy Quist (from Band of Heathens), Jamie Lin Wilson, Noel McKay & Brennen Leigh.
NOV. 4: Bright Light Social Hour & Israel Nash, “Neighbors” EP.
NOV. 6: Gary Frank Taylor, “Man Sitting in Chair Playing Guitar,” release show Nov. 6 at Hyde Park Theatre.
NOV. 18: KP & the Boom Boom, “The Brave.”
NOV. 18: Churchwood, “Hex City.”
NOVEMBER: Jonathan Terrell, “Color Me Lucky” EP.
DEC. 6: David Halley, “A Month of Somedays.”
JAN. 20, 2017: Matthew Squires, “Tambaleo.”
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