Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
In the heat of a spoilt Texas night, the sound of crickets and the thoughts of music gone by are sure to be illuminating, if not in many cases intimidating; add to that the beauty of the American Country ballad or the passion of a song that lights up the face when played in a bar that seems to be a few miles off down a dirt road and frequented by those with an absolute lust for the genre at hand, then you know you have been bitten by the gentle taste of the deep South and the mix of harmony that comes from Rock and Country.
It is to have no regrets that the music must be heard, to shy away from the possible light of your life, is to disavow the heart from ever feeling anything but its own slowing or rigid beat, and whilst many have shied away from the Country genre, in much the same way that the did with Jazz and Blues in the latter part of the 20th Century, mainly because of the sense of bloated self-importance that was becoming evident in the two goliaths of music. What has been left in Country is a rooted and discerning touch, full of absolutes and necessity of it has to be said, rare and undiscriminating finery. Like soft lace it captures a sense of overwhelming precision, time and value and one that Shelby, Texas, a captivating duo from California exhibit with humble grandeur.
In the bands album, We Are Shelby, Texas, songs such as Right Side, Unrequited, Tennessee, Gasoline and No Regrets come out of the hybrid home of Californian mindset and Texas sensibilities and capture a mood that is exquisite and simply elegant, a match made somewhere on a peaceful Earth surely Shelby Lanterman and Texas McCauley, a different kind of scene that saw Country disregarded by some, but one in which the open embrace is to be felt and admired.
Perceptive, sensitive and alluring, yet at the same time shrewd, intelligent and faithful to a cause of furthering the genre in a way that some have come to realise needed to happen; a quiet revolution perhaps, one that sees the music as the next stepping stone to a more inquisitive and unconventional place.
We Are Shelby, Texas is released on June 8th.
Ian D. Hall