BUSTER COUSINS
''SWAMPLAND''
2015
53:02
**********
1 Seminole Wind 06:17 (John Anderson)
2 Rattlesnake Rattle 05:21 (Buster Cousins, Carrie Smoke Foster, Byrd Foster)
3 Swampland 04:12
4 Visions of You 05:20
5 Bayou Lacombe 05:40
6 Crosses by the Road 05:16 (Buster Cousins, Edna Cullpepper)
7 Virginia Moon 05:02
8 Mississippi Blue 04:12
9 Rock-n-Roll Blues 03:53
10 Hick from the Sticks 07:45
Tracks By Buster Cousins, Except 1, 2, 6
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Organ & Piano/Professor Louie Hurwitz, John Tegethoff
Bass Guitar/Gerry Wilhelm, Mike Beausolie, Barry Dean, Dan Walters, Buster Cousins
Drums/Juan Perez, Dave Emerick
Percussion/Juan Perez, Buster Cousins
Guitar/Mark Emerick, Buster Cousins
Harmonica/Mike Galloway
Backing Vocals/Miss Marie, Professor Louie Hurwitz, Beth McKee, Buster Cousins
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REVIEW
Jim Abbott, Orlando Sentinel
When it comes to musical identity, storied destinations such as Chicago, New Orleans, New York and Memphis never had to worry much about image.
In the Sunshine State, however, the theme parks and teen-pop fads tend to obscure a reservoir of rich traditions and talent that rivals the Big Easy and the Windy City – if you just know where to look.
Swampland, the new studio album from Central Florida roots-rock outfit Buster Cousins, is a fine place to start. Powered by the songs, singing and instrumental work of guitar hero Tim Kelliher, these 10 songs are a highly elevated cross between rock, country, folk and blues.
Yeah, plenty of so-called alt-country acts are plowing this same turf nowadays, but few do it with such innate style, skill and sense of place. The Florida influence is as sweetly obvious as the scent of orange blossoms from a grove, from the Highwaymen painting on the cover to the nostalgic images on the CD and the inspired opening romp through John Anderson’s “Seminole Wind.”
A fixture for more than three decades on bandstands in Florida and beyond, Kelliher operates Buster Cousins as a flexible collective.
More than a dozen singers and musicians contribute to Swampland, including guitarist Mark Emerick (of the Commander Cody band); veteran drummer Juan Perez (an ex-Bellamy Brothers sideman); bassist Barry Dean (an alumnus of Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express); and Beth McKee, the New Orleans-bred singer currently putting Florida on the Americana map with her own Sugarcane Revival album.
The expansive studio band was produced by Aaron “Professor Louie” Hurwitz, known for his Grammy-nominated work with the Crowmatix and The Band’s Rick Danko, Garth Hudson and Levon Helm. On Swampland, the Professor builds on Kelliher’s muscular guitar foundation to brush against rockabilly (Ronnie “Byrd” Foster’s “Rattlesnake Rattle”), gut-bucket blues (“Crosses by the Road”) and well-placed ballads such as the wistful Louisiana vignettes of “Bayou Lacombe.”
Geographically, Swampland crosses the state line with positive results for “Virginia Moon,” a love song steeped in history, and the breezy, almost pop-oriented “Mississippi Blue.”
Not surprisingly, the album’s DNA is most apparent in the title track, a percolating celebration of life in the swampland, where muddy waters – not the singer – are friends and swamp sistas tempt with “stars in their eyes.” A worried nod to strip-mall development mixes substance into the groove.
There’s another message in the blue-collar anthem “Hicks from the Sticks,” a propulsive rocker that closes the album with an exhortation for hard-working folks to “take back the country; take back the nation.” At one point, Kelliher wonders: “Don’t they know who we really are?”
If not, Swampland is a perfect introduction.
**********
WEBSITE
**********
TO THE TOP
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''SWAMPLAND''
2015
53:02
**********
1 Seminole Wind 06:17 (John Anderson)
2 Rattlesnake Rattle 05:21 (Buster Cousins, Carrie Smoke Foster, Byrd Foster)
3 Swampland 04:12
4 Visions of You 05:20
5 Bayou Lacombe 05:40
6 Crosses by the Road 05:16 (Buster Cousins, Edna Cullpepper)
7 Virginia Moon 05:02
8 Mississippi Blue 04:12
9 Rock-n-Roll Blues 03:53
10 Hick from the Sticks 07:45
Tracks By Buster Cousins, Except 1, 2, 6
**********
**********
Organ & Piano/Professor Louie Hurwitz, John Tegethoff
Bass Guitar/Gerry Wilhelm, Mike Beausolie, Barry Dean, Dan Walters, Buster Cousins
Drums/Juan Perez, Dave Emerick
Percussion/Juan Perez, Buster Cousins
Guitar/Mark Emerick, Buster Cousins
Harmonica/Mike Galloway
Backing Vocals/Miss Marie, Professor Louie Hurwitz, Beth McKee, Buster Cousins
**********
REVIEW
Jim Abbott, Orlando Sentinel
When it comes to musical identity, storied destinations such as Chicago, New Orleans, New York and Memphis never had to worry much about image.
In the Sunshine State, however, the theme parks and teen-pop fads tend to obscure a reservoir of rich traditions and talent that rivals the Big Easy and the Windy City – if you just know where to look.
Swampland, the new studio album from Central Florida roots-rock outfit Buster Cousins, is a fine place to start. Powered by the songs, singing and instrumental work of guitar hero Tim Kelliher, these 10 songs are a highly elevated cross between rock, country, folk and blues.
Yeah, plenty of so-called alt-country acts are plowing this same turf nowadays, but few do it with such innate style, skill and sense of place. The Florida influence is as sweetly obvious as the scent of orange blossoms from a grove, from the Highwaymen painting on the cover to the nostalgic images on the CD and the inspired opening romp through John Anderson’s “Seminole Wind.”
A fixture for more than three decades on bandstands in Florida and beyond, Kelliher operates Buster Cousins as a flexible collective.
More than a dozen singers and musicians contribute to Swampland, including guitarist Mark Emerick (of the Commander Cody band); veteran drummer Juan Perez (an ex-Bellamy Brothers sideman); bassist Barry Dean (an alumnus of Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express); and Beth McKee, the New Orleans-bred singer currently putting Florida on the Americana map with her own Sugarcane Revival album.
The expansive studio band was produced by Aaron “Professor Louie” Hurwitz, known for his Grammy-nominated work with the Crowmatix and The Band’s Rick Danko, Garth Hudson and Levon Helm. On Swampland, the Professor builds on Kelliher’s muscular guitar foundation to brush against rockabilly (Ronnie “Byrd” Foster’s “Rattlesnake Rattle”), gut-bucket blues (“Crosses by the Road”) and well-placed ballads such as the wistful Louisiana vignettes of “Bayou Lacombe.”
Geographically, Swampland crosses the state line with positive results for “Virginia Moon,” a love song steeped in history, and the breezy, almost pop-oriented “Mississippi Blue.”
Not surprisingly, the album’s DNA is most apparent in the title track, a percolating celebration of life in the swampland, where muddy waters – not the singer – are friends and swamp sistas tempt with “stars in their eyes.” A worried nod to strip-mall development mixes substance into the groove.
There’s another message in the blue-collar anthem “Hicks from the Sticks,” a propulsive rocker that closes the album with an exhortation for hard-working folks to “take back the country; take back the nation.” At one point, Kelliher wonders: “Don’t they know who we really are?”
If not, Swampland is a perfect introduction.
**********
WEBSITE
**********
TO THE TOP
**********
