Low Country Blues
Rounder
The album title refers to the Georgia coastal area where he lives, and a few country blues covers are included, but Allman’s latest in 14 years could have been called “Low Town and Country Blues.”
Reviews
Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks
Crazy for Christmas
Surfdog
Dan Hicks has had his second wind for 10 years now, after going on a 25-year recording hiatus with the exception of 1994’s live “Shootin’ Straight.” His 2000 comeback, “Beatin’ the Heat,” featured several big-name guests and was well-received, as were 2001’s “Alive and Lickin’,” 2004’s “Selected Shorts” and 2009’s “Tangled Tales.”
Reviews
7 Walkers
7 Walkers
Response
Lyricist Robert Hunter has been pretty busy lately. Last year saw the release of albums written with Bob Dylan (“Together Through Life”) and New Riders of the Purple Sage (“Where I Come From”) plus a song with Bruce Hornsby for Hornsby’s “Levitate” (“Cyclone”). This year saw the onetime Grateful Dead scribe’s second Jim Lauderdale collaboration (“Patchwork River”); a song with Cesar Rosas on Los Lobos’ “Tin Can Trust” (“All My Bridges Burning”); and this album, a project with Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann and guitarist/singer Papa Mali (aka Malcolm Welbourne).
Reviews
Devon Allman’s Honeytribe
Space Age Blues
Provogue
The press release advertises “guitar licks that explode into whistling comet trails,” but such effects are hard if not impossible to find. This sophomore release is simply a solid blues-rock album showing impressive songwriting growth from 2006’s “Torch.”
Reviews
Raul Malo
Sinners & Saints
Fantasy
Things are looking up for Tex-Mex fans. Earlier this year, the reunited Texas Tornados (with Freddie Fender appearing posthumously and Shawn Sahm filling in for his pop, Doug) released “¡Esta Bueno!” Now, former Mavericks member Malo pushes the genre’s envelope with “Sinners & Saints.”
