Cold Hard Facts
There's nothing soft or fuzzy about this aptly titled album; even without a drummer, the choppy mandolin and guitar chords propel the music forward relentlessly. Whether describing the murderous "Henry Walker" or a hard-working "Loggin' Man," Del McCoury sings in a roughened, high, lonesome tenor that scrubs all the sentimentality off such subjects. When he sings about marital infidelity on Robert Cray's "Smoking Gun" or Ronnie's title tune, Del lets the raw moment of realization cut through his voice. Even when he tackles Ray Price's honky-tonk "I'll Be There" or Tom Petty's folk-rock "Love Is a Long Road," Del gives them the starkness of an Appalachian culture where the rocky soil and dirt-road isolation leave little margin for error.--Geoffrey Himes