With new album ‘Blood Brothers’ New Braunfels, Texas native Dallas Burrow wanted to chase something a little more refined and a little more polished than his previous two efforts, ‘Southern Wind’ and ‘Dallas Burrow’. (Read our review of the latter right here) With the creative vision and technical talent of producer Jonathan Tyler, Burrow took everything he’d learned from the last two album cycles, plus a lot more experience on tour, and brought a new outlook into the recording studio, crafting his best work to date.
Existing fans of Burrow’s will find his instantly recognizable songs sung in his signature gravelly tone, but there are hints of something deeper afoot. Musically, the pair of Burrow and Tyler chased down new tones influenced by everything from Stax to Muscle Shoals to New Orleans, but lyrically, Burrow’s journey through his own history and influences steals the show. “The songs on ‘Blood Brothers’ tell about where I’m from, where I’ve been, what I’ve done, and what I’ve seen,” he says.
Nowhere is this personal insight more in evidence than on the title track. ‘Blood Brothers’ is a very cinematic re-telling of a wild night out in Nashville that his father, Mike, spent back in the 70s with a couple of buddies and Townes Van Zandt, an artist, musician and friend of the family who’s influence is writ large across the Burrow men. The group ended up cutting their arms in the early hours and becoming the ‘Blood Brothers’ of the title. Burrow re-tells the story in a darker, Springsteen-esque way that hints at Johnny Cash replete with western plains guitars. That Van Zandt influence can also be found on Burrow’s cover of ‘Mr Mudd and Mr Gold’, which is a dramatic story of a card game between the aforementioned characters that draws you in to its narrative in a very Tarrantino-esque way as the song becomes a duel, but in card game form. Burrow’s father, Mike, features heavily on ‘X Old Flames’ too. The song is one of his: re-worked and revamped by his son! It’s a honky tonk, Texan bar room romp that sways with a 70s style and class and a hint of humour too, as a relationship bites the dust through cheating on her part. ‘The love we once had,’ Burrow sings, ‘has gone down the drain, I guess we’re just X old flames.’
Gambling features on the fabulous ‘Only Game in Town’ too. This is a honky tonk number lifted right off the Smokey and the Bandit soundtrack with its Jerry Reed-meets-New Orleans vibes. It’s a light hearted track will be become a staple in Burrow’s live set. Co-written with Charley Crockett, ‘Only Game in Town’ has echoes of riverboat casinos and illicit gambling too. If we are talking about that New Orleans influence, ‘Out of My Window’ deserves a shout out. It’s a funky, half-time E minor Blues number on which Burrow ruminates on the state of the world. ‘Things are even stranger than they look on TV,’ he sings, confused by the modern world and worried about his kids as he sings about division, money and nature. There’s a bit of Clapton thrown in the mix here and a hint of Blues and a depth to the vocals that puts me in mind of Canadian guitarist Jeff Healey too.
Elsewhere Dallas Burrow has a real touch of Jakob Dylan, the lead singer of The Wallflowers, in his vocals. ‘River Town’ is a great example of Burrow’s move, on this album, towards embracing a slightly more expansive, classic Americana sound. It’s a biographical look at his hometown with the familiar tropes of of girls, Friday nights and rival schools painting a traditional picture of a small town upbringing. ‘I’ve been around the world,’ he sings, ‘fell in love with a Dallas girl and came back home ‘cos I like the sound of raising our son in a river town.’ It’s a full circle moment bathed in classic Americana, like the Wallflowers playing Texan Country music. ‘Starry Eyes’ could be Springsteen jamming with Jakob Dylan as Burrow paints a rich, vivid picture of long term love whilst ‘Devil’s Tongue’ is all gentle acoustic guitar and whippoorwill electric and steel as Burrow channels more classic Americana.
Alongside the Van Zandt, Springsteen and Dylan influences there are some stand out moments of pure originality on ‘Blood Brothers’. ‘A Lot of It Was’ is a pure Country waltz augmented by some delightful fiddle that carries a big tip of the hat to Willie Nelson. A redemptive look at Burrow’s past, it features some lovely nylon string guitar work from Larry Chaney as Burrow sings, ‘I can’t catch a break, can’t catch a buzz, it wasn’t all my fault, but a lot of it was.’ An honest and sober look at his past behaviours. ‘Motel 6’ is a Texan styled acoustic number that barrels along as Burrow weaves a tale of a travelling troubadour, endlessly criss-crossing the towns of the south ‘looking for a Motel 6 next to a Waffle House,’ whilst album closer, ‘True Believer’ puts us back in riverboat casino territory again as Burrow brings a Lenny Kravitz style punch to the guitars on a song destined to hit hard at his live shows.
Throw in the superb barn burning foot stomper, ‘Wild Bill’ and the beautiful ‘You Go On Ahead’, a song influenced by the passing of his Aunt Pat, who dated Townes Van Zandt back in the 80s and was killed by a drunk driver, and you have even more stand out songs. ‘You Go On Ahead’ reminds me a bunch of Springsteen’s ‘If I Should Fall Behind’ and Burrow even has his own Little Steven-esque lyrical partner in Wills Alan Ramsey providing back up vocals on this track. It’s a soulful, heartfelt look at how relationships endure that carries a hint of something more in the after life too.
‘Blood Brothers’ is a triumph of style, class and invention. Dallas Burrow has taken everything he did so well on his previous self titled album and added in a diverse melting pot of influences to his sound whilst retaining that intrinsic storytelling nature and ability to draw you into the narratives of his songs. This Texas troubadour can weave tales of New Orleans magic, of hard won and heartfelt Americana and he can damn well rock out when he wants to, too! It’s a major step forward for this authentic and hard-working artist and I hope it reaps it rewards during this album cycle so that more of the world gets to hear what he can do and be swept along by his stories and tales.
Tracklist: 1. River Town 2. Starry Eyes 3. Devil’s Tongue 4. Out My Window 5. Motel 6 6. A Lot of it Was 7. Only Game in Town 8. Blood Brothers 9. Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold 10. X Old Flames 11. Wild Bill 12. You Go On Ahead 13. True Believer Record Label: Release Date: Friday June 16th Buy ‘Blood Brothers’ now
