Ron Houston opens the album with “Whiskey Train,” a song about drinking and pain, sung from experience. You can hear that experience in every syllable he delivers. “And it’s been rollin’ so many years down these old rails of pain/As I look around at where I’m from, it doesn’t quite feel the same/And all my dreams that I’ve left behind remind me of who I became.” Yet he is not down on himself, nor is he preaching. Rather, there is something matter-of-fact about what he’s saying, which somehow makes it all the more poignant, particularly in lines like “And now that I’ve lost everything I loved I guess it’s time that I moved on.” And just when it seems about to end, the song suddenly picks up in pace, shooting forward to another level. The train is rolling now and there is no stopping it. And it’s not an act of desperation, but rather freedom and abandon. I’m digging that drumming. The guitar has a few things to say as well, and there is some really nice backing vocal work too. It’s a delicious opening number.
“Lines On My Face” begins in a mellower place and features banjo. Ron grabs us with the song’s opening line: “Well, I’ve been shown all my wrongs, I’ve been read my rights.” Again, his is a voice of experience. We trust what he sings here as personal truth. “If you must know who I am, just read in between the lines on my face.” We hear the honesty of his lyrics. There is something beautiful in the pain expressed here, or rather, in the expression of that pain. This one also mentions whiskey in the lines, “I made sure that my whiskey was filled to the brim/I tried drowning all my sorrows, but the bastards they learned how to swim.” Wow, those are excellent lines. Then “People Lookin’ The Other Way” begins by establishing a good beat and setting the scene with its first lines, “Walking down the street late at night while the moonlight’s shining bright/Couples holding hands, homeless holding out their cans, pimps and hookers just out of sight.” And then it’s like the perspective shifts to one of those street people, for Ron Houston next sings, “People looking the other way, and I ain’t got no place to stay.” I suppose we’re all guilty of that from time to time, aren’t we? There are times when we just can’t deal with it, and pretend to focus on something else as we pass by. This track features some really good guitar work.
“I dread the darkness when the night comes ‘round,” Ron Houston sings at the beginning of “Waiting On A Miracle,” a song that has more of a folk vibe, particularly at the start, with an intimate vocal approach. This is one of just three covers on the album. It was written by Tim Flannery, who used it as the title track for the 2022 Tim Flannery & The Lunatic Fringe album. But you get the sense that Ron Houston could have written this one himself, its lyrics fitting well with what we’ve heard so far on this disc. “Broken pieces from a broken heart/I’ve been broken down right from the start/The world, it seems, got the best of me.” This one also contains some nice guitar work. It is followed by “Blood On The Mountain,” which begins on banjo. And Ron Houston’s voice is strong, sounding like it is coming from the top of a mountain itself. This is a compelling start, transporting us and commanding our attention. “When that sun goes down/Well, I’ll hit another town/When that sun comes up/Well, I won’t be around.” After those lines, the other musicians come in, but this feeling of danger is maintained. Check out that bass work in the second half. This is one of my favorite tracks.
“Drinkin’ Got The Best Of Me” is another song about the adverse effects of alcohol on a life, but delivered with a certain fondness. “Years and years have come and gone now, and I don’t remember one damn thing/Well, thank god I wrote all these songs, lord, to remind me of all the hurt and pain.” There is a good energy to this song, and it features some cool work on guitar as well as nice touches on keys. That’s followed by “Life On The Edge Of A Knife,” which was written by Jeff Wise. It’s a song about being a musician, told from that perspective. Interestingly, this one too mentions whiskey: “Well, I play my music for tips or for whiskey, sometimes I’ve played it for free.” Ron Houston delivers a heartfelt vocal performance. This track also contains some good work on keys and drums. He then changes gears with “Raise A Lotta Hell,” a fun number with a bluegrass flavor, featuring banjo and fiddle. I especially love that work on fiddle. A line that jumps out at me is “It’s been a nightmare living the American dream.” At one point he sings, “I ain’t ever been to prison,” so clearly he’s not taking the “outlaw” part of “Real Outlaw Americana Music” seriously enough. Anyway, I think most folks can appreciate this line: “I’ll take Waylon over pop country any fucking day.”
“The Rain” is a mellower number, though building in power at moments, and featuring another moving vocal performance. At this point, you might not be surprised to find that this song also mentions whiskey: “I found God at the bottom of a whiskey bottle/I knew right then that I’d done hit rock bottom.” The album then concludes with “Gun Sale At The Church,” a lively number written by Buddy Blue and originally recorded by The Beat Farmers. It has also been covered by John Surge And The Haymakers, who do a great job with it. Ron Houston is clearly having a good time with this one. I love the humor of this song, heard in lines like “And we’ll ask the lord to forgive us for all our sins/And we’ll look at the latest in gold-plated firing pins” and “Well, my two main men are Jesus and old John Birch.” There is a great history of John Birch Society being mentioned in music, such as songs done by John Denver and Bob Dylan. And then there was a long while when you didn’t hear John Birch Society mentioned much at all. It’s sad to say, but it is now quite fitting to mention the John Birch Society again, because it is alive and unwell in the guise of the Trump cult.
CD Track List
- Whiskey Train
- Lines On My Face
- People Lookin’ The Other Way
- Waiting On A Miracle
- Blood On The Mountain
- Drinkin’ Got The Best Of Me
- Life On The Edge Of A Knife
- Raise A Lotta Hell
- The Rain
- Gun Sale At The Church
Real Outlaw Americana Music is scheduled to be released on November 15, 2024.
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