Piper & The Hard Times: "Good Company" (2025) CD Review

At the beginning of last year, Piper & The Hard Times won the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. Then that summer the Nashville-based band released Revelation, an album featuring some excellent original material, largely in the blues realm, but with soul and rock elements too. That album reached #1 on the blues chart. Not a bad year. Now the group is releasing a new album titled Good Company, this one featuring all original material. And I imagine it will gain the band even more acclaim and recognition. The band is made up of Al "Piper" Green on vocals, Steve Eagon on guitar, Amy Frederick on piano and organ, Parker Hawkins on bass, and Dave Colella on drums and percussion. Lisa Oliver-Gray and Etta Britt provide backing vocals. And there are guests on a few tracks.

Good Company opens with its title track, a rocking blues number with a great energy. Early in the song, Al sings, "Making good music, what it's all about." Yes! This is a song that celebrates music and friendship. And hey, those are the very things that keep us going, keep us sane, in these ugly times. And the band touches on that in this song: "I'm sick of these times, y'all/Listening to the news/Everybody's opinion/Is bringing me the blues." I think we can all relate to that. The band is eager to jam, this track featuring some good stuff on guitar and keys. And it is possible that this song might lead to a bit of self-reflection. Do the people in your life consider you good company? "Good Company" is followed by "Now I'm Lovin' You," which quickly establishes a totally delicious groove, and features great stuff on saxophone. Eddie Meyer and Charlie DiPuma are both on sax. "I used to love my whiskey/Now I'm loving you." The band is having fun here, and I have to think this song would be a highlight of the band's live sets. I need to see these guys in concert. This song urges us to dance, that rhythm speaking directly to our bodies, and the guitar flies and swirls around, dancing itself.

A solid, thumping beat at the beginning of "Tear It Down" tells us the band means business here, and the business is good fun. That beat tells us to get ready, be prepared, and the song begins to build around that beat. Eddie Meyer again joins them on tenor saxophone. "Why are we so broken/Listen, it ain't funny/I'm not joking, y'all/We don't listen/We don't hear/It's all driven/By someone else's fear." Well, those are lines for our times, aren't they? And then the band reminds people, "No one wears the crown," something that sadly half of this country seems unable to understand. "I'm so tired/Body and soul." That's the thing: this time we are living in is exhausting. And I know that I personally get cranky when I'm tired, so perhaps it's no wonder that so many people are cranky these days. But this music has a very positive bent, seeming eager to move things forward, past this current mire. Then John Wallum joins the band on organ for "Cowboy Gucci," delivering some good stuff. Here the guitar helps create the steady rhythm. And the vocals are a great raw force.

Good rhythms are an important part of the music here, and with "In The Meantime," a particularly cool rhythm is established at the onset, one that will likely have you smiling. Interestingly, the vocal approach carries a somber tone. "You've got some thinking to do/I don't think you're being true." This song offers a look at a relationship, where there is a difference of views. "You do your thing/But let me do mine." And he repeats, "Let me do mine," and the guitar rises up in support. During the instrumental section, it seems time is passing and changes have occurred, for afterward Al sings, "I'm on my own, y'all/And look at me now." There is a seriously cool instrumental section just before the end, featuring some nice stuff on guitar. Then "Turn The Tables" begins in a mellower place on guitar, and that guitar soon finds a classic blues groove. The first line (after that spoken word intro, that is) is a variation on that classic blues opening line, "I woke up this morning": "You woke up, baby/Tears in your eyes/You say you don't want me no more/But I'm the one with the surprise." I love the way this song is presented, vocals and electric guitar, an approach that ends up making this track stand out.

With "Runaround Man," the band is ready to rock, the drumbeat calling everyone in and pushing them forward. "I'm going to run, run, run, run, run all over town." There is a tremendous energy, and a certain attitude to his delivery. His woman has been treating him wrong, so he's going out too and do the same thing. That might not be the best strategy for a sound mind, but it makes for a fun song, for sure. Check out the great work on both guitar and keys. "Cheatin's Gotta End" also tackles that subject, as evident from its title. "I sit at home all day, you on my mind/But now you are here, and you're looking so fine." This track contains some excellent work on guitar. Interestingly, this song is one the band recorded before. Apparently, originally the band was called Piper, and the first album, released in 1999, was called The Hard Times. That album contains a rendition of "Cheatin's Gotta End."

"Keep It To Yourself" begins with a spoken line: "That sounded like a bomb or something going off in the background, what was that?" We don't know. But the song starts, taking us to a bar and the action there. "Well, people tell me the strangest things/They start to talk before they start to think/And they tell me all their secret stuff/But I tell you, man, I done had enough." And he urges them, "Keep it to yourself." I think we can all appreciate that. I am often amused when people I've just met open up with all sorts of personal information, but sometimes it gets annoying. And it's usually those times when the person just won't shut up. But my favorite line is this: "Now talk is cheap, I'm gonna raise my fee." This is a fun number. It's followed by another fun number, "Not Your Fault," the sax being a big part of the song's appealing sound. This track also features some excellent drumming. But the lyrics are my favorite element of this one. Here is a taste: "Man starts a riot and breaks the law/Now politics and lawyers, he tried to get off/Now he was looking to find the right reason/To blame it on the stress of the holiday season." We all know the man he is singing of there, and that man has sadly led others to approach things the same way. These days, most people just can't admit to a mistake. A guy driving the wrong way down my street yesterday told me it wasn't his fault, blaming his mistake on his phone. Anyway, I'm seriously digging that work on keys during that great instrumental section. This is one of my favorite tracks.

"My Place" has a good, heavy sound as it starts. "We're all stressed about bills to pay/Hell, how are we going to make it through another day?" This song urges us to take a moment to relax, to step away from the stress and listen to the blues. And indeed, that can be the very thing to do the trick. The blues have that capability. This track features an excellent lead on guitar. And I love that backing vocal work toward the end. Then "Those Days" begins with a spoken word section, looking back to the times when he was growing up: "And when you got in trouble, it was the kind of trouble you could walk away from/You know what I mean/Those kind of days." I would hate to grow up now, with school shootings and social media dominating the days. Things have gotten ugly, and children can no longer be children. And we wonder where it all went wrong. It makes sense to look back to childhood now, and to those childhood friends. For they still are our friends. Their memories are our memories. It is always good to hear from them, and to see them, and that's what this song is about.

CD Track List

1. Good Company
2. Now I'm Lovin' You
3. Tear It Down
4. Cowboy Gucci
5. In The Meantime
6. Turn The Tables
7. Runaround Man
8. Cheatin's Gotta End
9. Keep It To Yourself
10. Not Your Fault
11. My Place
12. Those Days

Good Company is scheduled to be released on August 29, 2025 on Hard Times Records.