I have a vague memory of being told by a musician friend that he had seen a band fronted by the Spehar brothers who he was sure had all the necessary weapons in their arsenal to make a big noise on the country-rock scene. That was around 35 years ago (if memory serves) and I haven’t heard anything since.
Until this rose to the top of my pile and that vague memory tugged at my brain. On it went and … wow! The 30 year hiatus while he had children, got a ‘proper’ job and moved away from his roots turns out to have been time well spent – this album absolutely reeks of a man who has never given up on the music, writing songs and playing and waiting for the opportunity to finally lay it all down. And he has delivered an absolute gem.
The opening track – ‘Dirt’ – came howling out of the speakers and I honestly expected Neil Young to be supplying those reedy vocals but instead the vocals are delivered by a dark and gruff voice with a strong Colorado accent. Telling tales of the Colorado land and the great migration there to mine, farm and live and die, the lyrics are something Malcolm Holcombe would be proud of. The music has resonances of Crazy Horse and all the excitement of a live track.
Frankly, if this was all there was about the album it would be good but it goes on through many different styles and forms – the bluegrass of ‘Muleshoe Mules’, the beautiful title track (sung to his late wife and muse), boogie country of Bo Nemanic and on and on.
10 tracks, each one a gem, played brilliantly and standing as a single sparkling element of a life of writing music. Put them all together and the result is something far more than special.
An unexpected joy but one that I will be cueing up time and again.
