Michael Houser: Low Country

Guitarist and singer Michael Houser was a founding member of Widespread Panic. He passed away in August of 2002 from cancer. This track is taken from Sandbox which was produced by John Keane. Those with jam band phobias have nothing to fear as Sandbox is a singer/songwriter record with only a bit of noodling. In fact, its jangle and melodicism remind me of the brilliant Horsebreaker Star, the 1995 solo disc from Grant McLennan of the Go-Betweens.

Michael Houser: Low Country

Bill Malone & Rod Moag: Dust On The Bible

Rod Moag is known as the ‘the singin’ – pickin’ professor,’ Bill Malone is renowned as an historian of American country music having written what is considered the definitive book on the subject, Country Music, USA. Despite very different backgrounds, the two retirees share many things including a love for country music of the post WWII era. They possess a particular fondness for the Bailes Brothers, a significant presence on the Louisiana Hayride. History has relegated the Brothers a minor status compared to such contemporaries as Hank Williams and Roy Acuff, but the Bailes’ music, a deceptively simple and emotionally direct blend of hillbilly and gospel, maintains its influence and Remember Me finds Malone and Moag paying them tribute in a way that exudes respect and understanding.

Sure their vocal duets are a little rough, but that just adds to the disc’s charm. Meanwhile top players like Lloyd Maines, Cindy Cashdollar, Justin Trevino and Tim O’Brien add just the right amount of feeling to embellish without overwhelming.

Bill Malone & Rod Moag: Dust on the Bible

Jud Newcomb: Plain and Simple

I first met “Scrappy” Jud about 15 years ago when he was a member of Loose Diamonds with Troy and Mike Campbell. He impressed me with his hard riffing guitar play and a wonderfully happy-go-lucky attitude. Since then the band has been gone for several years and Jud has turned into a respected producer for Beaver Nelson and guitarist for nearly everyone who’s anyone in Austin from Ian McLagan to Toni Price to Ray Wylie Hubbard to Bob Schnieder. Most notably he currently sits in with the Resentments, a songwriters circle of sorts with Stephen Bruton and Jon Dee Graham, and the Imperial Golden Crown Harmonizers, a gospel rave up with Gurf Morlix and Papa Mali.

But enough name dropping, Scrappy’s new solo effort, Byzantine, is his best work yet. He sings with a passion that he’s never revealed before – I’d be first to say his sandpapered vocals have always been an acquired taste – and the songs are mature in unexpected ways. It’s as if all the talent he’s worked with over the years have seeped into his consciousness and blended into something remarkably fresh.

Jud Newcomb: Plain and Simple