RAY WYLIE HUBBARD

A. ENLIGHTENMENT, B. ENDARKENMENT (HINT: THERE IS NO C)

2010-02-02

Is Ray Wylie Hubbard one of those “outlaw country” guys? Is he a smart ass Texas Troubadour? Is he a blues guy? Is he a hippy cowboy? Yes to all of the above. Ray Wylie Hubbard is a Texas based storyteller who draws from a deep well of musical inspiration that includes blues, country and twangy rock. With a gruff delivery that is equally comfortable delivering a Neil Young style ballad, "Black Wings", as a jazzy hodge podge of sound that could fall off a Chuck E. Weiss or Tom Waits disc, "Pot and Pans", or a mid-tempo rocker that sounds eerily like Ian Hunter, "Loose", Hubbard weaves tales about naked women on the crunchy, "Drunken Poet’s Dream", the end times on the gospel inspired, "The Four Horses of the Apocalypse", pesky wasps on the slow stomper, "Wasps Nest", and even draws inspiration from Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven on the rootsy title cut. Elsewhere, Hubbard mixes things up with an a cappella rave up, "Whoop and Hollar", an eerie folk blues, "Tornado Ripe", a hot-wired, slinky blues, "Down Home Country Blues", and a lumbering number that stomps and jerks like a zombie on the prowl, "Every Day is the Day of the Dead". While his wide ranging repertoire makes him difficult to peg, his talent has no problem shining through on this release. Smitty

More reviews tagged #Folk

  • reviewed 06/2010

    SALLY SELTMANN
    Heart that's Pounding

  • reviewed 04/2009

    BRUCE COCKBURN
    SLICE OF LIFE

  • reviewed 08/2016

    Cali Shaw
    Under The Olive Tree

  • reviewed 05/2011

    ELIZA GILKYSON
    Roses At the End of Time

  • reviewed 03/2006

    MI & L’AU
    Mi and L'au

  • reviewed 08/2007

    BIG LEG EMMA
    The Color Of Wind

Compiled by the WYCE Journalism Club

The opinions expressed in these reviews are those of the individual volunteers that submitted the article and do not necessarily reflect the views of WYCE or GRCMC; nor its staff, donors, or affiliates.