ALBUM REVIEW: Jedd Hughes’ ‘Nightshades’ Should Get Him The Attention He Deserves

A never-waste-a-note guitarist, Hughes effortlessly drives over the terrain of rock and country. Swirling psychedelic rhythms propel the Tom Petty-esque “Meet Me in the Dark,” which opens with a chugging, minor chord riff that blooms into bright rock choruses driven by Hughes’ stinging lead runs. Cascading guitar picking opens the cinematic “Underground” before blossoming into a driving blend of spiraling lead lines and roaring choruses. Hughes verses move from quiet despair to rousing hope in the choruses, mimicking the way life often shifts between light and dark moments.

The album’s title track is a bluesy, Key West-tinged Harry-Nilsson-meets-Ernest-Hemingway number, with a few Steely Dan jazz blues licks thrown in on the instrumental bridge. The jet-fueled “Stay (Don’t Be Cruel),” which features Sarah Buxton trading her effervescent vocals with Hughes’ soaring voice, rollicks straight ahead down the rock and roll highway.

Catherine Marx’s tender piano opens the gorgeous ode to the power of love, “Loving You is the Only Way to Fly,” featuring Rodney Crowell and Brennen Leigh on background vocals. Bright keys and blaring horns drive the swaying soul rocker “Nothing’s Gonna Bring Me Down,” while “Riff Raff” is a down-to-the-bone funk rocker. The album closes with “Aftermath,” a galloping nod to post-apocalyptic life with soaring George Harrison-inflected riffs.

Nightshades showcases Hughes at his best: inventive songwriting and innovative guitar work that places him among the top guitarists playing today.

Jedd Hughes’ Nightshades is out May 1 via Handmade Records/Guy Clark Records.