Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Album review: Eastwood — Everything’s Personal

By Staff of The Gobblers Knob

I have made no secret about being a proud Texan, and even more specific, a proud Dallasite. What is also anything but a secret is the sizable amount of emerging and quality Folk, Country (”Alt” or otherwise) and even Bluegrass acts are coming from the D/FW area and it’s neighbor to the north, Denton. Acts such as Sarah Jaffe, The O’s, Blackbird Harmony, 1100 Springs and Doug Burr are prime examples of the excellence that has become rather standard to the area. Dallas’ own Eastwood are also a great example of the great roots tradition in North Texas as evidenced with the release of their new LP, Everything’s Personal.

Much of the disc revolves around the Cali-Country style harmonies of Kevin Minihan and David Heidle. The harmonies are not where the similarities to the solid gold 70’s vibe ends however. Gently emotive cries from the steel in “Right Place Wrong Time” and the harmonizing on “Giving Up, Giving In” lend themselves beautifully to remembrances of Buffalo Springfield and the Meisner-era Eagles. There is a good dose of variety in the collection as well. The amps and the rhythm get cranked up a notch in “Big Blue Sky”. When the song opens with the lyrics ”Destination nowhere” followed by pedal steel and distorted guitars, you can visualize an updated Peckinpah Western rolling its intro. The disc closes out with a southern-fried “Come Together”. I am never totally sure it’s well-advised to cover a Beatles song, but at least they make it their own, and fittingly, the upbeat tempo that the Eastwood boys infuse the tune with reminds me of the Eagles hit “Life in the Fast Lane”.

Next time you are in Texas for SXSW, ACl or Fun, Fun, Fun Fest, make a little time to stop in Dallas to catch a show. Austin may have to bring all the talent in (joking), but in Dallas, we can just go down the street to the nearest club to catch a prime set.

Pegasus News content partner - The Gobblers Knob

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Comments

Bill Holston Verified

Nice review. These guys cd release at Barley House was a great fun evening. Great to see JD Whittenburg playing with them. This is a really fun band and cd is a great listen.

10 months, 1 week ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Mike Orren Staff

I've got to agree-- this is one of the best new Americana discs I've spun in a long while. And whether it's the addition of Whittenberg, or a couple years to gel since the last album, this one's a quantum leap forward. I enjoyed Die Tryin', but it struck me more with its potential than its actual achievement. That potential is more than realized here with more complex song structures and original, but universal lyrics. Eastwood's made the leap from a bar band to a new plane.

So yeah, I like it...

10 months, 1 week ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Bill Holston Verified

Hey, these guys have a show tonight at times ten with Danny Balis and Glen Farris, Wine Down Wednesday, great show, at 7:30

5 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )