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On the Pine Hill Haints' latest long-player, The Song Companion of a Lonestar Cowboy, they go there and to other colorful places on the Americana and Appalachian trail. The fifteen song sequence kicks off with InchFall AsleepInch and InchBack to Alabama,Inch a fiery pair of rockabilly-meets-Irish-jig rave-ups, then winds through standout tracks like the Bo Diddley-grooved InchPretty Thing,Inch a pounding tom-tom and fiddle take on the traditional InchJohn HenryInch and the catchy, cajun-flavored squeezebox pop of InchLone Star Kid.Inch There are excursions into Sun Records-style country (InchMidnight MayorInch and InchLouiseInch) and swampy blues (the saw-singing InchWade in the WaterInch and InchDowntown Blues,Inch which features guest J.D. Wilkes on harmonica). Throughout, Barrier's strong tenor voice rings familiar and friendly, with deep echoes of everything from John Lee Hooker to Buddy Holly to Johnny Cash. And the band plays with a sense of abandon that comes from thousands of gigs behind them. It all sounds deceptively simple, but anyone who plays music knows better. The Pine Hill Haints do something very few roots bands can, which is to transcend influences and sculpt age-old sounds into soul music for our time. Album Tracks 1. Fall Asleep 2. Back to Alabama 3. Pretty Thing 4. Satchel Paige Blues 5. John Henry 6. Lone Star Kid 7. Drop and Fall 8. Midnight Mayor 9. Catfish Blues 10. Fighting for the Wrong Side 11. Stare at the Fire 12. Louise 13. Downtown Blues 14. Wade in the Water 15. Tithy Dunbar
