2011-06-23
Small Town Son, a local 5 piece country band, is tight. With very strong songwriting and deep roots in modern country rock, their new album "Burning Good Rubber" is cast in superb musicianship and a broad range of influences. These champions of the Colgate Country Showdown bristle with the tribulations and the honesty of Midwestern backroads. They bow to everyone from Coe and Brooks to Chesney and Bentley on their debut disc. From a good time party song like "Shut Us Down" to "Honky Tonk Hymns," a roadhouse country anthem, they blend Top 40 Country sounds with the flavors of classic country and blues. "Dodge Man" is a bluesy car song. Solid country sounds can be found on "I Can't Remember When," with its Chesney-esque pining for a love left behind, and on "Missing You" a sweet song that travels somewhere between Vince Gill and Garth Brooks. The album ends with a perfect fiddle waltz that sounds as if it was grabbed off a rehearsal tape. You'll be glad they kept it. Reviewed By: Todd Townsend.Robert Earl Keen
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