R C Banks Conway's Corner CD

Rooted in various Texas styles of blues, country, and rock, R.C. Banks has created an almost perfect picture of how the best of differences can create a terrific and eclectic balance. "Courthouse" takes the best of a John Hiatt melody with some raw harmonica supporting the song, while "Walkin' on Air," although possessing a spoken word quality, is a quiet alternative country ballad. A few twists are sometimes welcomed, but the polka waltz of "Jenny Jones" (named for the afternoon talk show host) and the cheesy "Great Scott's BBQ" diminish previous efforts. A noticeable trait is the record's rather mid-tempo blues swagger on "More Than the World to Me," which has the singer sounding sincere in his delivery. Having considerable success during the slower-paced accordion-tinged "Those Days Are Gone," Banks performs without any considerable change in format or sound, a mildly disappointing fact given the energy and abilities he reveals in the beautiful "Pecan Trees" and "South Plains Panhandle Fair." "Now's the Time" has some Latin overtones, but it's too little, too late. A few more up-tempo tunes would improve the album, but it's quite enjoyable as it is. ~ Jason MacNeil

If experience is indeed the best teacher, then R.C. Banks has earned aPh.D. in real American music. From the time he hit his first stage with hisaccordion at the age of six in his native Lubbock, TX, Banks has cut aswath across the Southwest in a succession of bands playing a kaleidoscopeof styles, often at the same time. Along the way, he has worked with suchfolks as former Small Face Ronnie Lane, a then 14-year-old Charlie Sextonand Austin legend Harvey "Tex" Thomas. His songs have been recorded byLane, Joe Ely - both on his own and in an as-yet unreleased duet with LindaRonstadt - Charlie and Will Sexton, "Long Black Veil" co-writer Mary Welchand Texas country-folk thrush Kimmie Rhodes. Yet he has remained one of thelargely undiscovered treasures on the lively Austin and Texas roots musicscenes until now, with the release of Conway's Corner on Loudhouse Records.The disc has already been declared "one of the best albums I've heard thisyear," by Australian critic and deejay Eric Black, who notes how "everytrack on this album is an absolute gem." Likewise, Banks' hometown weekly,the Austin Chronicle, named Conway's Corner the #1 Texas Album of the Year,while critics have been running to the kitchen to cook up superlatives todescribe its multi-stylistic, soulful musical stew and encapsulate therichness and heart that pervade the disc.Austin American-Statesman critic Michael Corcoran likens Conway's Corner toa pot roast "that's sizzling with all sorts of chopped up ingredients likecarrots, kale, onions, bell peppers and celery, plus a few bones ofmysterious origin for a flavorful twist." He declares the tasty platter"one of the most invigorating CDs to pull up a chair and twist one off in along time." Similarly, Rockzillaworld warns diners, "It isn't Lean Cuisine,friends, it is a smorgasbord of pickled pigs feet and hard boiled eggs, ofcollard greens, black-eyed peas, blood sausage and Tabasco sauceS. [I]fyou're ready for a down-home, poor-folks Southern musical banquet, dig in."Or in other words, Conway's Corner is a delicious musical repast that isruggedly nutritious if also a bit dangerous - as the best genuine Americanroots music should be. It's rocking roadhouse Southwestern soul that is "ano-frills celebration of the good times, hard knocks and broken hearts of aTexas Saturday night," says the Austin Chronicle.And if anyone knows the ingredients for a musical stew that transformsSaturday evening into the night of your life, it's R.C. Banks. After all,he's been doing just that for nearly four decades. Starting out withaccordion lessons and performances at age six, teethed on his parents'affection for Lawrence Welk and the Ray Coniff Singers, Banks also livedand heard the music from the other side of life during his summers workingas a cowboy on his grandfathe