Robbie Fulks Georgia Hard CD

With his first few albums in the 1990s, Robbie Fulks established himself as a premier alt-country artist. Subsequently, he took a couple of career detours, with a major-label rock album and a self-released "arty" singer/songwriter effort. GEORGIA HARD finds Fulks not just returning to his roots, but distilling his talent to its finest point to date.

On this 2005 release, he effectively jettisons the "alt" prefix, delivering a straightforward country album with clear roots in the kind of music that forward-looking artists like Roger Miller and Tom T. Hall were turning out in the Nashville of 30-plus years prior. In that era, Fulks's masterful songwriting, emotive vocal style, and flawless production would likely have earned him as many country hits as critical plaudits. In the time of Toby Keith and Kenny Chesney, it's harder to imagine the old-school drinking song "Each Night I Try" or the thoughtful story-song "If They Could Only See Me Now" racking up Grammys. However, that hardly seems like the ultimate goal of a real-deal country singer like Fulks, otherwise he'd never be able to turn out something as resonant as GEORGIA HARD in the first place.

Liner Note Author: Robbie Fulks.

Recording information: OceanWay; Sound Stage, Nashville, TN.

Ensemble: Beasts Of Bergen.

Photographer: Jim Herrington.

Personnel: Robbie Fulks (acoustic guitar); Robbie Fulks (vocals); Donna Fulks, Donna Fulks (vocals); Lloyd Green (pedal steel guitar, dobro); Jubal Fulks, Jubal Fulks, Beasts Of Bergen (violin); Dennis Crouch (bass instrument); Mike Fredrickson , Mike Friedrickson (bass guitar, background vocals); Jeff White (acoustic guitar, background vocals); Redd Volkaert, Grant Tye (electric guitar); Alison Brown (banjo); Sam Bush (mandolin, background vocals); Carl Gorodetzky, Lee Larrison, Alan Umstead (violin); Hank Singer (fiddle); Joe Terry (piano, organ); Alison Prestwood (bass guitar); Gerald Dowd (drums); Gail Davies (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: Jay O'Rourke; King Williams.

Rolling Stone (p.76) - 3 stars out of 5 - "In his best moments, Fulks sounds like the wiseass bastard son of Roger Miller - high praise indeed."
Entertainment Weekly (No. 821/822, p.141) - "[A]nyone who loves the country music of the '50s, '60s, and '70s will relish GEORGIA HARD, Fulks' near masterpiece of homage..." - Grade: A
Uncut (p.114) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[A]n acerbic and reverential pastiche planted firmly in early-'70s countrypolitan and honky-tonk storytelling traditions."
Dirty Linen (p.84) - "[The album] covers a lot of ground while remaining decidedly country in spirit and approach."