My music buddy, Jeff Hemphill, turned me onto Lucero this week. Now, I know the alt.country scene pretty well, though people like Jeff, his brother Mark, and Jim Finn, a good friend from my our San Francisco days, know it far better. So why have I never heard of Lucero?
After Jeff sent me an email saying Lucero’s self-titled debut and this year’s Nobody’s Darling were in heavy rotation on his CD player, I downladed Tennessee from eMusic. That was five days ago and at this moment I have a copy in the CD players in both our cars. I also have it loaded as the current playlist on the iPod, the home PC and the work notebook. I cannot stop playing this album!! To my tastes, this is the best thing I’ve heard in a long while: that perfect, slow burn alt-country sung with a voice perfectly suited to the genre, that of Ben Nichols. Add some smart, painful lyrics and you’ve got perfect music:
When You’re Gone
I miss you when you’re gone
Please don’t stay gone too long
I miss you when you’re gone
Please don’t stay gone
Darby’s Song
Little girl is still far too young
To have a heart that’s been so broken
It might seem like you ain’t got noone
Well, I’m here for you
I’ll Just Fall
I think I’ll stay right down here on this floor
Cause if I get back up I’ll only fall down more
It ain’t the liquor and it ain’t the beer that keeps me down
It ain’t the sad songs or heartache it ain’t even this town
Unless your music store is way better than mine, you’ll not likely find this stuff there. For some instant gratification, head over to eMusic, sign up for the trial that gives you 50 free downloads, and grab a couple of Lucero’s albums.
