Tuscola is an Americana gem drifting somewhere between Ray Wylie Hubbard’s Crusades Of The Restless Knights and Charlie Robison’s Life Of The Party. Like much good Americana, it’s a populist album with a strong rural sense of place, pace, and the past.
Nathan Hamilton, a native of Abilene, Texas, was the frontman of Austin band the Sharecroppers, which eventually became the Good Medicine Band. Tuscola includes several of the same musicians, but takes a giant leap forward.
Hamilton wrote the ten songs over almost a decade, but they fit into a neat whole that is sometimes as comforting musically as it is disturbing vocally. Most of the songs, rather than telling narrative stories, are about moments of time. One exception is “Two Penny Vengeance”, a familiar story of familial revenge that rocks to a cinematic conclusion.
Dave Sawtelle’s earthy banjo is outstanding on “Cash & Tobacco” (a schizophrenic song about runaway lovers in a dangerous world) and “Grainger County”. Mark Rubin’s rhythmic tuba is an effective complement on “Outlaw’s Lament”, about a man who’s slow to accept his evil ways. Mark Williams’ mournful cello and Hamilton’s e-bowed electric guitar punctuate “One Man’s List”. Erik Hokkanen’s fiddle laces light across the dark on “Spent”, and Marc Utter’s mandolin shines in that light.