Two Lanes of Freedom
[Deluxe Edition]
by Tim McGraw
$17.95
Tim McGraw reaches new emotional depths in Two Lanes of Freedom. This is McGraw's first album with his new record label Big Machine. The 13-track CD offers a mix of songs that are more like stories, such as Book of John, which is about a family going through their late father's journal.
There is an overall sense of nostalgia on the album as heard clearly in the lyrics of One of Those Nights, but the seriousness of that song is well balanced by the humor in Southern Girl and Mexicoma.
McGraw expresses that the title track, Two Lanes of Freedom, really sets the tone for the album. It has a sort of Gaelic drive that is then carried throughout. In a press statement, McGraw conveys, "I think you can feel the horses gallop on this record, and where I might go and what I might do when my engines are revving."
Popular songwriters such as Luke Laird, Rodney Clawson, Chris Tompkins and the Warren Brothers all have cuts on the album.
Other singers get in on the fun with duets featuring Keith Urban and Taylor Swift. The last song on the album is meant to be a tip of the hat to singer Swift, who has been a long-time friend with McGraw and his wife Faith Hill.
The Accelerated Deluxe Version offers four additional songs, including a live version of the first single from the CD, Truck Yeah.
In McGraw's career, he has sold more than 40 million albums and had 32 No. 1 singles. McGraw has won multiple Grammy honors, ACM and CMA Awards, and he's not a bad actor either. This newest album is set to release on Feb. 5.
Feeling Mortal
by Kris Kristofferson
$14
Country veteran Kris Kristofferson releases his first album in four years at the end of January, and it proves that Kristofferson still has it. The 76-year-old Country Music Hall of Famer releases Feeling Mortal completely independently on his KK Records label. It's the third in a twilight years" trilogy following 2009's Closer to the Bone and 2006's This Old Road.
Other musicians featured on the album include Mark Goldenberg on guitar, Sean Hurley on bass, Greg Leisz on pedal steel and guitars, Aaron Sterling on drums, Matt Rollings on keyboards and Sarah Watkins on violin.
If you are accustomed to light-hearted music, Feeling Mortal may not be for you. Expect the quintessential raw and honest lyrics from Kristofferson, a man that gave up a promising military career for a self-described life as a songwriting bum. In fact, the song Castaway on the album is a memory of a scene Kristofferson witnessed from the air while flying his helicopter over the Gulf of Mexico.
My Heart Was the Last One to Know was co-written by poet/author Shel Silverstein with whom Kristofferson consistently wrote songs over the years. It was previously recorded by Connie Smith and finds a fitting home on Feeling Mortal.
The album concludes with Ramblin" Jack, which is about Kristofferson's friend Ramblin" Jack Elliot. On his website, Kristofferson describes Ramblin" Jack as "one of those people whose whole life was music. He's like William Blake and Bob Dylan and other people who just believed and lived for whatever poetry they could come up with."
Grasshopper Cowpunk
by Holy Moly
$9.99
Members of the Fort Worth band, Holy Moly, have been described as "rock "n" roll cowboys." They somehow infuse country, rock "n" roll and punk into a successful sound that has been charming Fort Worth fans for years.
The band has toured Europe and opened for some big names such as Bowling for Soup, Flickerstick and Reverend Horton Heat. But it's the local grassroots fan base that has kept Holy Moly cranking out records and booking performances at Fort Worth venues.
Grasshopper Cowpunk is the band's fourth album, which was produced by Will Hunt. The 13-track album has undertones of rockabilly flavor, and lead singer Joe Rose provides twangy vocals and folksy lyrics.
One of the songs on the album entitled The Mustache Song is dedicated to Rose's distinguishing mustache and is very Western in flavor. Golden Sombrero provides a Mexican flair and tells the story (in imperfect Spanish) of a vaquero wearing a golden sombrero in search of tequila. It's easy to see this band doesn't take things too seriously.
Other band members include Danny Weaver on guitar, Jeremy Hull on upright bass and Joe Carpenter on drums. In 2012, Holy Moly rocked the Fort Worth Music Awards by winning Best Live Band, Song of the Year (The Mustache Song) and Album of the Year (Grasshopper Cowpunk).
