Blaze Foley "Live At The Austin Outhouse" (Lost Art, 1999)
One of Austin's most fabled lost souls, songwriter Blaze Foley is best known for composing "If I Could Only Fly," which has been recorded all the way from the indiest of the indie, up into the Top 40 by artists such as Merle Haggard and Joe Nichols. By all accounts, Foley was a singular, eccentric presence on the Austin scene -- a fast friend of Townes Van Zandt and many others, he refused to work a day job and had no fixed address. Foley was a constant presence in Austin's music community until his untimely death in 1989, when he was shot and killed by the son of a friend, in the middle of a domestic dispute. This album is drawn from a live show recorded weeks before his death, in one of his favorite haunts, the Austin Outhouse. It's a striking performance, ranging widely in emotional tone and musical strength. Foley opens the show with "Oh Darlin'," a windswept acoustic tune with gorgeous guitar work. It's followed by "Clay Pigeons," a jovial but penetrating ode to the beauty of unglamorous people -- the song is nakedly imitative of John Prine's plainspoken style, and it is only fitting that Prine himself recorded the song in '05... These two tunes are the height of professionalism on this album, and the set gets choppier and folkier as it goes along, less concise, yet also more personal and immediate. This unevenness, the creative tradeoff between songcraft and emotional directness, may have been emblematic of Foley's career: he dropped out in order to be a full-time musician, but he excelled and his personality shone through when he was at his most ragged. All in all, this is a wonderful introduction to his work, giving a strong sense of his various strengths. Recommended!

Blaze Foley "Oval Room" (Lost Art, 2004)

Blaze Foley "Inside" (Deep South, 2005)

Blaze Foley "Cold, Cold World" (Lost Art, 2006)

Blaze Foley "Wanted More Dead Than Alive" (Lost Art, 2006)

Blaze Foley/Various Artists "If I Could Only Fly: A Tribute To Blaze Foley" (Bongo Beat, 2006)
Merle Haggard, Gurf Morlix, Kimmie Rhodes, Willie Nelson, Calvin Russell and Texana Dames and numerous others join in this tribute to Texas songwriter Blaze Foley. This 4-disc set also includes a bunch of performances by Foley, often along with various pals and cohorts... The fourth disc is a concert DVD, including several duets with Townes Van Zandt.

Sue Foley "Ten Days In November" (Shanachie, 1998)
A swell album, well worth checking out. The blues have been so miserably bad for so many years that a relatively straightforward record like this is a real breath of fresh air... This Austinite has some rough edges, which work much to her credit, but also an appealling individuality and distinctive air about her, even when paying homage to others, as on the Dylan-y, (Blonde on Blonde- era) "Highwayside," which opens the album. Mostly what makes this album great is her ability to pump up the volume and delve into electric blues, without falling into the morass of generically aggressive, muscular power chords and shrill guitar solos that plague have plagued the blues scene for the last few decades... Foley's still able to tap into the senuality and reflective side of the style, combining it with a scruffy alt.country sensibility... Her other albums are also appealing, but this seems to be her best, and most fresh-sounding. Give it a shot!

Radney Foster "This World We Live In" (Dualtone, 2006)
One of the strongest albums of Foster's career, this electrified set sounds a lot like Robert Earl Keen's ouvre, although I'd say Foster -- when he hits the right groove with his lyrics -- moves me more than Keen ever has. Anyway, the comparison is mostly about the guitar-heavy, roots-rock sound the two Texans share... Personally I'm not into the whole crank-up-the-volume, guitar hero approach, but I can unerstand why a lot of people like it. What matters is that the songs speak for themselves, and this disc has plenty of winners on it, notably "Drunk On Love," which opens the album, and a couple of tunes reprised from Foster's jaw-dropping acoustic Back Porch Sessions album, released back in '04. "Fools That Dream" is a great song, with a haunting, lost-in-the-wind chorus that'll clutch at your heart, whether it's played plugged in or not. I'd say, go get both records, this one and the acoustic one, and you'll hear a major Americana artist playing at his peak. Recommended.

Kevin Fowler "Beer, Bait & Ammo" (Self-Released, 2000)
A great set of rollicking, uptempo outlaw honkytonk, with sassy, snappy guitar licks worthy of all those fine old Dwight Yoakam albums... Fowler's a young Texas indiebilly who got a leg-up in the music world through Sammy Kershaw's swell rendition of this album's title track, "Beer, Bait & Ammo" -- as fine a tongue-in-cheek good ole boy anthem as has ever been recorded. There are several tracks of equal caliber on this album, including "Hellbent For A Heartache," "J.O.B.," "100% Texas" and the wistful loser ballad, "Drinkin' Days." Nice stuff, with plenty of boozy pedal steel and pop-a-top sentiments. If you're looking for real, honest, independently produced hard country, check this guy out!

Kevin Fowler "High On The Hog" (Self-released, 2002)
With a solid, fat honkytonk backbeat and plenty of twang to open the album, Fowler makes his mark as an indiebilly traditionalist, and follows it up with song after song of well-crafted, unruly originals. His voice ain't the strongest I've ever heard, but his songs more than make up for it... Besides, this is one of those records that lets you know that, yes indeed, real people are still out there making real music. Nice pickin', and nice contributions from fellow Texans such as Clay Blaker (who cowrites one song) and Willie Nelson, who sings harmony and plunks his geetar on one tune ("All The Tequila In Tijuana"). Oh, and there's a goofy countrified cover of the old Queen song, "Fat Bottomed Girls," which could be punchier, but still gets the point across. Again, Fowler isn't a great singer, but he's got lots of spunk, and writes some swell country stuff; if you're into the independent country scene, then you'll wanna check this guy out.

Kevin Fowler "Loose, Loud & Crazy" (Equity, 2004)
Rough-edged and fully steeped in the independent spirit of Texas outlaw country, songwriter Kevin Fowler (whose "Beer, Bait & Ammo" has become a modern day comedic country anthem) makes the leap from microscopic Lone Star labels to a maverick would-be major. Kudos to Clint Black for signing Fowler up on his newly-launched Equity label, and for giving raw-boned, goofball novelty honkytonk new life in today's super-sanitized Country charts... Having heard Fowler's last couple of albums, I was psyched and more than a little surprised to see him popping up on the Billboard Top 40... But imagine how much more amazed I was to get the album and hear that Fowler hadn't changed a thing about his sound... No slick keyboards or cheesy power ballads here, just a fine, fun set of dopey drinking songs and love-a-loser lyrics. If anything, he might be trying a little too hard to be hard-country and "outlaw," but hey, I ain't complaining. I'm just glad to hear some real twang coming out of Nashville. If you like George Strait, Waylon Jennings or Ed Burleson, you're gonna love Kevin Fowler.

Kevin Fowler "Bring It On" (Equity, 2007)
Hell, yeah. An indie/outlaw true believer, Texas-based Kevin Fowler has made quite a few high-class, high-test, high alcohol content, honkytonk twang albums... Here, he's getting more comfortable with a bigger, fuller production sound, but the sh*t-kicking spirit is still there, and he's still funnier than hell. Sure, themes like "Long Line Of Losers" (about all the drunks and ne'er-do-wells in his family) have been done before, but does 'em well, and he sings rowdy songs with more conviction than just about anyone in Nashville today. This disc is a delight for folks who still love country music with grit in it, a buncha rough-and-tumble novelty tunes about drinkin' too much and blowin' off work, making lots of mistakes, and having a good old time. Fans of Dierks Bentley will find a kindred spirit here: Fowler has a similar youthfulness and sincerity, although he also has the advantage of not being a branded, Top 40 commodity, so he doesn't have to add any sappy, sensitive-guy love songs or dumb fake-nostalgia-for-middle-America odes... It's just one sleepy-eyed, single finger salute after another, with plenty of catchy melodies and chunky rhythm riffs to propel us along. Songs titles like "Cheaper to Keep Her," "What's Your Point" and "I Pulled A Hank Last Night" are all self-explanatory, and Fowler lives up to their promise of no-nonsense fun. But hey, don't just take my word for it: George Jones himself sings a killer duet on "Me And The Boys," and if that ain't a feather in Fowler's cap, I don't know what is. If you're looking for a country record that'll be fun to listen to, this is it.

Michael Fracasso "A Pocketful Of Rain" (Lone Star, 2004)
A Midwesterner who hit the NYC folk circuit in the 1980s, then headed for Austin when the Americana scene started to hit its stride, Fracasso's work is evenly spaced between fragile acoustic folk-Americana and jangly indiepop, music with an interesting, distinctive charm to it... Fracasso has a thin voice, and a notable comfortability with his own limitations, drawing from the traditions laid down by twee power-poppers and Panhandle poets of years gone by. Not all of the songs hold up, but if you're willing to get on his wavelength, Fracasso is an artist whose work can be quite rewarding. (For more info, check out www.michaelfracasso.com.)

Paula Frazer "Indoor Universe" (Birdman, 2001)

Paula Frazer "A Place Where I Know -- 4-Track Songs: 1994-2002" (Birdman, 2003)

Paula Frazer "Leave The Sad Things Behind" (Birdman, 2005)

Freakwater "Freakwater" (Amoeba, 1991)
This Chicago-based outfit is definitely an acquired taste, perhaps not recommended for the casual listener, but required listening for the alt-country scholar. Raspy, ragged and difficult, Freakwater draws liberally on indie-rock and twangcore traditions -- one of the female singers, Janet Beveridge Bean, is also in the revered spacerock band, Eleventh Dream Day; later on, a guy from Uncle Tupelo joined the lineup. Underneath all their abrasiveness, Freakwater hits on some convincingly old-fashioned hillbilly vibes, like a sort of booze-fueled version of the Carter Family. Album reviews to follow.

Freakwater "Dancing Under Water" (Thrill Jockey, 1991)

Freakwater "Feels Like The Third Time" (Thrill Jockey, 1994)

Freakwater "Old Paint" (Thrill Jockey, 1995)

Freakwater "Springtime" (Thrill Jockey, 1998)

Freakwater "Endtime" (Thrill Jockey, 1999)

Frog Holler "The High, Highs & The Low, Lows" (EP) (Zo Bird, 2004)
Well, while I thought the songwriting was uniformly interesting and engaging, I found the crash-banging overemphasis on rock-style electric guitars to be kind of unfortunate. Most of the songs on this 7-song EP slide into prolonged, overly shrill solos that kind of suck the life out of the songs themselves. Of course, that's just my perspective... I've never been much into the whole roots-rock sound, so if you're more into Drive By Truckers or Steve Earle's grungier side, then this might be for you. As I say, though, the songs are all pretty good, with above-average lyrics and unique conceptual twists... just wish I didn't have to turn the volume down or skip past those guitar solos so often.

Frog Holler "Haywire" (Zo Bird, 2006)
The first half of this album is a solid, satisfying mix of true-blue twang and reverbalicious, melodic guitar rock, with wisps of the Feelies, Teen Fan Club and Big Star amid the gruff, twangy vocals and plunky acoustic picking... These guys had kind of lost me for a while, when they went pretty much all-rock, but this disc is a very accomplished piece of work, and their inner twang is definitely back in the mix. There are a couple of moments where they still ditch the country vibe and go off on some guitar-hero tangent, but once I force myself to remember that I like good indie rock, too, then I don't really mind so much. This is a disc you can listen to from start to finish, without any need to flinch or cringe... and these days, that's kind of a rare thing! I'm impressed: these guys have evolved into a really fine band. And this is a mighty fine record... check it out!

Steven Fromholz "Come On Down To Texas For Awhile -- The Anthology: 1969-1991" (Raven, 2001)
This anthology will probably serve as the definitive collection of this '70s cult-hero Austin songwriter, delving into material from eight different albums, and tossing in a duet with Willie Nelson for good measure. Personally, I've never a huge Fromholz fan -- a lot of his stuff is too wordy and leaden for me, and as a singer his phrasing is a bit stiff. He's sort of like a gruff-voiced cross between Fred Neil or Hoyt Axton and Townes Van Zandt, with Townes's lofty poetic aspirations being the dominant part of the equation. For those who groove on the whole latter-day literary cowpoke, windblown Texas-mythologizing ethos, Fromholz will be a real treat, but if you just wanna hear some fun country songs that you can tap your toes to, this disc will mostly be slow going. This disc includes songs like "Blue Lines On White Linen" and "Ain't It Nice To Be Alone" hold up pretty well, but the lethargic, solomn "Texas Trilogy" are a bit much, as far as I'm concerned. But if you want to check the guy out, this is the place to start.

Edith Frost "Calling Over Time" (Drag City, 1997)
I'm not sure why the indie-altie crowd keeps insisting Edith Frost is an Americana artist... it's as if no previous rock musician had ever thrown an acoustic lick into their work before, and the Chicago scenesters are so baffled by her, they just don't know what to make of it. Well, anyway, even though I'd place her pretty firmly in the nebulous confines of the "lo-fi" indierock category, Frost's love of good, old-fashioned hillbilly music does give her some cred as an alt.hick, at least by proxy... So what the heck? I'll review her here as well! Sounding an awful lot like Barbara Manning, but with less of a pop-driven edge, Frost crafts a delicate set of odd, introspective, meandering lo-fi tunes, amid arty accompaniment from numerous Chicago-scene stalwarts. It's a bit rarified, but has its allure... This probably isn't as "alt-country" as you may have been lead to believe, but Frost certainly does know her way around the byways and backwoods of American hick music... (Check out her website, for insights into her wide-ranging musical tastes -- as well as her playful sense of cyber-community activism...)

Edith Frost "Telescopic" (Drag City, 1998)
Delving simultaneously, paradoxically, more into rock and more into Americana, Frost's similarities to Barbara Manning become more pronounced, as do her differences. She's generally slower, and -- if possible -- a bit mopier (although this album opens with an uptempo, fuzz-drenched psychedelic number that suggest an afternoon or two spent listening to Tall Dwarfs albums...) The album really starts to open up on "Pony Song" and "Too Happy," with oddly catchy refrains... This is probably too subdued and micro-cultural for most rock fans, but for the thoughtful, brainy crowd (...how I envy them!) it may hold some nice surprises.

Edith Frost "Wonder Wonder" (Drag City, 2001)
Her most ornate and richly realized album to date... I really don't get why some of the indie-critical elite persist in describing her as "country," when she's so clearly coming from an alt-rock / art-rock background, especially on this disc, which is packed with shimmering keyboards and theremin-alicious wooglie tones galore... Well, whatever. If I were to recommend one of her records to anyone, I think this would be it: it's got the most interesting ear candy and the most alluring lyrics of the lot. Check it out!

Robbie Fulks - see artist discography

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Hick Music Index

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