Dualtone
A couple of things work in this disc’s favor.
First, it’s been four years since the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s last full-length studio album, “Bang Bang Bang,” and that had but one in-house track; so it’s been 10 years since an album of mostly original material (1994’s “Acoustic”).
Stag
Dayton started out as a rockabilly artist, switched/expanded to alt country and then more or less started his own genre: “turbo country,” as the Austin American Statesman labeled it. Now, with his latest, he’s exploring the grey area between blue-eyed soul and country.
Surfdog
That’s Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks, not to be confused with Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks. They are two different groups — the latter having finished its four-album career in 1973, and the former releasing its debut in 2000.
Eleven Thirty
Enough can’t be said about this Austin, Texas-based group. If every band wrote, played and sang as well as the Gourds, music fans would be in heaven.
Favored Nations Acoustic
Legg, voted “best fingerstyle guitarist” by Guitar Player’s readers four years running (1993-96), delivers his least acoustic-sounding album for his 14th release.
