James Talley Nashville City Blues CD

For the uninitiated, placing an album like Nashville City Blues in the CD player will be a pleasant surprise. Pleasant because it is a country album that, despite its title, has nothing to do with Nashville, and pleasant because James Talley's approach to country is shot through with the blues. There are no retro-honky tonk songs in sight, and while Talley does wear a hat on the CD cover, it isn't a cowboy hat. The album kicks off with the title cut, a rocking kiss-off to Nashville and all it's cookie-cutter sameness. "I've Seen the Bear" is a long-running narrative with a late-night feel and insightful observations, while "Workin' for Wages" lays down a few honest words about the blue-collar life. "You Can't Get There From Here" and "House Right Down the Road" are fun rockers that give Talley a chance to cut loose with some nice guitar work. A number of songs like "Don't You Feel Low Down" and "If It Wasn't for the Blues" emphasize the "blues" in the album's title. The arrangements throughout Nashville City Blues are pure country, meaning guitar, mandolin, steel, Dobro, and an occasional piano. The instruments blend well together, and the overall production is spare. Talley, who has penned all of the songs, writes intelligent lyrics and has a pleasant singing voice. He remembers and celebrates country music's working-class roots. For fans of "real" country music, Nashville City Blues will be an ear-opening experience, leaving them anxious for upcoming reissues of Talley's earlier work. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.

new album of original material completed in 1998 from acclaimed Oklahoma-born singer/songwriter, who handles lead vocals & acoustic guitar; this seductive, insightful & rootsy album of country blues features a long list of musicians, inc. Gregg Thomas, J

Recorded at Stepbridge Studios, Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1998. Includes liner notes by James Talley.

Personnel: James Talley (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar); Jono Manson (vocals, guitar, electric guitar); John Nieto (vocals, harmonica); David Paul (guitar, electric guitar, piano); Richard Hardy (mandocello, mandolin); Larry Freedman, Kevin Zoernig (piano); John Griffin (acoustic bass, electric bass); Greg Thomas (drums).

Audio Mixer: Tim Stroh .

Liner Note Authors: James Talley; Peter Guralnick.

Recording information: Stepbridge Studio, Santa Fe, NM.

Photographers: Clark Thomas; Jim McGuire ; Cavalliere Ketchum; Carl Thomas.

Personnel: James Talley (vocals, guitar); Jono Mason (electric guitar, background vocals); David Paul (electric guitar); Jon Potrykus (pedal steel guitar, dobro); Richard Hardy (mandolin, mandocello); John Nieto (harmonica, background vocals); Kevin Zoernig, Larry Freedman (piano); John Griffin (acoustic & electric basses); Joan Griffin, Denise Brissey (background vocals).

No Depression (9-10/00, p.116) - "...[He's] a bulldog who can outsmart and outlast the best of them. And endurance...is what the blues is really about..."