1. The Hallelujah Trail - 9.2/10
2. Down By Law - 9.2/10
3. One Eyed Jack - 9.4/10
4. Image of a Woman - 8.5/10
5. Eagle and the Crow - 8.8/10
6. Top Hand - 8.2/10
7. Country Music - 8/10
8. Last Night at the Alamo - 8.3/10
9. Clovis - 7.5/10
10. Don’t Take Your Guns to Town - 8.3/10
11. Albuquerque Lights - 8/10
12. I Ain't Riding Anymore - 8/10
13. Honky Tonk Philosophy - 9.5/10
14. Waylon Rides Again - 10/10

Waylon Jennings - Are You Ready For The Country?
Brent Cobb - Southern Star
Margo Price - All American Made
Vincent Neil Emerson - Blue Stars
Billy Joe Shaver - Old Five and Dimers Like Me
The Deslondes - Holy Cross Blues

Daisy Innes

Staff Writer

Worst time of year for an alt-country fan? CMA Fest. For Charley Crockett, he took the opportunity to flood the streets of Nashville with CD copies of his latest album, Clovis, a record he was banned from properly rolling out due to a legal dispute.

With calls to Judas, declarations of deceit, blinded desire for money and blatant lies laced throughout every track, there’s no doubt Crockett went into the studio guns ablazing - it just so happens those guns were in the hands of one of country music’s very best.

For those that claim Crockett explores too many sounds, it’s difficult to say it with guts when he does them all so well. Pairing with Shooter Jennings, the fact that this diverse soundscape can come out of one shared vision is remarkable.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Clovis lies in its indefinability of sound. A seamless blend of country, funk, blues and rock, each song conjures up comparisons to other artists, none of whom would be brash and bold enough to place it all on one album.

Blazing 70s electric guitar and New-Orleans brass wrap around sultry commentary on the lies of the industry on ‘One Eyed Jack’, as Crockett recognises his unavoidable “hanging” for his steadfast beliefs.

In fellow modern outlaw company, ‘Eagle and Crow’ has a streak of Sturgill Simpson-rock running through it, with a bass heavy confidence and a bluesy cover of Johnny Cash’s ‘Don’t Take Your Guns To Town’ signalling Crockett’s tendency for gritty cinematicism.

On ‘I Ain’t Riding Anymore’, he laments “I ride for myself, never for the crowd/ I ain’t riding anymore, I ain’t riding any less”. You only have to look at his discography - Clovis coming in at album number seventeen - to realise Crockett has never been conventional. Underlying it all is his fiercely independent ‘Honky Tonk Philosophy’, tied up in a track that comes as an indisputable album highlight.

Closing out with ‘Waylon Rides Again’, produced by the outlaw’s legendary son, recorded in the studio that saw so many of his own tracks come to life, and at a time when Waylon’s own lost music is being released is a perfect tribute for a hero of the past, created by an icon of the present.

We may say Crockett releases too much music - and for good reason - but with country music being so saturated beyond belief with industry-driven, half-hearted hooks and cash grabs, there’s an intoxicating, age-old grit in Crockett’s music that is astoundingly attractive. It’s damn good music and it’s as necessary now as it was from Jennings and Cash in the ‘70s.

Clovis will the the biggest contemporary addition to the outlaw country legacy, no doubt.

8.7/10

Daisy Innes

You can listen to my favourite from the album, 'Waylon Rides Again', here: