Steven Casper & Cowboy Angst: “Hey!” (2022) CD Review

The newest album from Steven Casper & Cowboy Angst features mostly original material, written by Steven Casper. There have been a few changes since the group’s 2018 release, Sometimes Jesse James, and on this release the band includes Dan Wistrom on guitar and lap steel, Alex U’Ren on bass, and Jim Doyle on drums. They play on most of the album’s tracks. Herb Dietelbaum and Jay Nowac play bass and drums respectively on two of the tracks (so I’m guessing those two tracks were recorded earlier than the others). Steven Casper is, of course, still on vocals and acoustic guitar, and the extremely talented and versatile Carl Byron plays piano, organ and accordion. The album was produced, mixed and mastered by Ira Ingber, who also plays acoustic guitar, cittern, and dobro. I’ve come to expect excellent things from Steven Casper, and he has not let me down yet.

The album opens with “Easy,” an original composition. The song’s first line, “Put a candle in the window,” obviously brings to mind CCR, as that line is also the first line of “Long As I Can See The Light.” But after that, this song creates its own path. Check out these lines, which stand out: “Each day runs into another/Precious things lose their shine/Remember when we were together/When I was yours and you were mine/‘Cause it’s easy to slowly lose your way/Easy to pile up mistakes.” Time moves so quickly, it seems, that if we are not regularly cognizant of our actions, it is easy to suddenly find ourselves far from the course we’d chosen or planned. The music here is fairly straightforward, with a good energy, the focus being on the lyrics. And there is something hopeful in its tone, which works well with lines like “Some say you can’t go home again/But keep looking out, because I’m coming to your door.” Things do get more interesting musically during the jam toward the end, which features some excellent playing by the entire band. I particularly love the guitar work there. It then feels like it’s going to lead back into the main body of the song, but instead the track concludes there.

On “Hey!,” the album’s title track, the energy is high too, fitting for a song about persevering and not losing hope. The song itself seems to give us the energy to keep going. “And sometimes it’s all too much/And you feel you’re losing touch/And you want to just give up/Just give up/Hey!/Well, there’s better days ahead.” Ah, I certainly hope so. It has been a difficult year, but I am forever hopeful, even when things are dark and grim. What else can we do? This is a really good song. I especially like that work on organ, which rises as if to give us an extra push just before the song ends. That’s followed by “So Damned Hard.” I think we’re all in touch with the theme of this song. “But I can’t find my way, can’t find my way/Because it’s so damn hard, so damn hard.” We’re all trying to find our way out there, trying to minimize the pain. And it’s much more difficult when that special someone is no longer by your side. This track features some really good work on guitar.

“By Your Side” begins in a mellower place, having a sadder, more introspective country tone. It starts by describing a scary scene, and then dissipates some of that fear by promising “But I’ll be by your side.” It’s a frightening world, and losing a parent makes it all the more uncertain. “And when your memories/Fade like an aging photograph/Crumbling at your touch like dust and ash/Oh, I’ll be by your side/And when the weight that holds you down/Is lifted from your chest/Oh, you’ll find many things are gone and put to rest.” This is a fairly short song, and it features Chris Hlavka on bass. That’s followed by “Howling At The Moon (Wine And Weed).” With a title like that, you’d expect this one to be a fun number, and you’d be correct. It’s about getting together with friends, and it features some absolutely delightful work on piano. “But then Friday rolls around/And I feel free/I feel free/I got the wine, you got the weed/Let’s smoke it down to stems and seeds/We got our friends, that’s all we need.” And the line “Monday’s bad, and Tuesday’s worse” makes me laugh. It’s been that kind of year, you know? This is one of the tracks to feature Herb Dietelbaum on bass, and Jay Nowac on drums. And several folks join the group on vocals for the “Na na na” part at the end, including Camille Ameen, Grant Langston, Annette Conlon, Doug Conlon, Peter McCain, Ted Russell Kamp, Emily Zuzik and Manda Mosher.

The good vibes continue with a fun cover of Bob Dylan’s “Absolutely Sweet Marie,” the first of only two covers on this album. These lines always make me smile: “Well, anybody can be just like me, obviously/But then again, not too many can be like you, fortunately.” That’s followed by “Cold Dark Hole,” a bluesy number featuring some good work on organ. It’s about tempting fate. “You can pick your poison and see how that goes/Her fingers beckon you closer, and somehow you know/That you’re going to wind up lying in a cold, dark hole.” I suppose whatever we do, we’ll end up in the same place, a discouraging thought if we dwell on it. This is a strong song, and is the other track to feature Herb Dietelbaum on bass, and Jay Nowac on drums. The album then concludes with its other cover, “Motherless Child,” which has an intriguing, haunting opening, and maintains that gripping vibe throughout. It features a strong vocal performance from Steven Casper. It moves at a slower pace, with some interesting backing vocal work. Linda McCrary Fisher joins the group on vocals for this one, and Chris Hlavka is on bass. It’s a fantastic rendition.

CD Track List

1. Easy
2. Hey!
3. So Damned Hard
4. By Your Side
5. Howling At The Moon (Wine And Weed)
6. Absolutely Sweet Marie
7. Cold Dark Hole
8. Motherless Child

Hey! was released on May 6, 2022 on Silent City Records.