| CD REVIEW Hellbound Glory |
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Band : Hellbound Glory This Reno (Nevada) based and self-proclaimed “Scumbag” Country Rock quartet consisting of lead singer/ guitarist Leroy Virgil, guitarist Nick Swimley, bassist Frank Medina, and drummer Chad “Chico” Kortain started out in 2004, its members originating from such equally small town as Butte (MT), Aberdeen (WA), Woodland (CA), and of course Reno itself. Rather than jumpin' on the “current” popular Country stylings, the guys preferred to harken back to the sounds of such Rebel/ Outlaw Country folk as Hank Williams Sr., Johnny Cash, Wayloy Jennings, David Allen Coe, Merle Haggard, and Willie Nelson. In Virgil's own words: “Basically I set out to write simple Country songs in a simple language about my life and the lives of my friends...”, and it's the guys' “what the hell” attitude which has seen the band on a constant touring schedule since the last 4 or 5 years. Highlights have been to share stages with the likes of David Allen Coe, Reverend Horton Heat, Drive-By Truckers, The Blasters, Hank Williams III, Nashville Pussy, Junior Brown, Wayne Hancock, Jesse Dayton, (Supersucker's) Eddie Spaghetti, (Stray Cats') Lee Rocker, and many others. Signed to Gearhead Records in the US, the band released their debut album Scumbag Country in 2008, and added a second album to their discography on 16 February of last year, this European version having been enhanced by a re-mixing and re-mastering. I'm told there's a difference between the two albums, because whereas the quartet still pays tribute to the '70s Outlaw Country of their influences, they have now added banjo (courtesy of one Robert Bowden), fiddle (Damien Sol), pedal steel guitar (Joey Davancens, Adam Jaffe, and Rex Stezell) and keyboards (piano and organ by Davancens again) to the songs, giving their songs a more traditional Country sound, occasionally venturing into Bluegrass. Virgil's voice is delightfully rough and melodic through-and-through, and does well even on the couple of calmer songs on the album. Ask me to pick a couple of favorite songs on the album, and I'll start by gawking at you first...then continue to tell you, in order of appearance on the album, for which reasons I like each and every song on the album, whether it be for the great musicianship, or the somewhat humoristically meant hard-times lyrics. In other words: the album is simply delightful...and I wish I could keep the promo copy for myself. However, I'm dead-certain the editor-in-chief is gonna rake the album into his own collection the moment he hears about the references. At (www.) myspace.com/hellboundglory, there's sufficient songs posted from both albums for you to make up your mind about liking what this band does. Me, I'm sold! 93/100 Tony. |