ALBUM REVIEW: Turnpike Troubadours Ride Again, Renewed
Corbie Hill
Posted On August 23, 2023
Halfway through Turnpike Troubadours’ A Cat in the Rain we meet a cowboy.
He rides among backcountry aspens, lost in thought. He was younger, wilder once, for which he’s paid dearly. “I don’t miss the taste of liquor / or really anything about it, but / The temporary shelter was a welcome compromise,” Troubadours bandleader Evan Felker sings in patient, atmospheric western ballad “The Rut.” “Oh, friend / I’m going to ride out of the rut I’m in / a little elevation and an open-ended prayer.”
Songwriters wrestle demons all the time, but A Cat in the Rain could only happen after Felker kicked one’s ass. After 2018’s A Long Way from Your Heart, Turnpike Troubadours spiraled. First came canceled shows, then a hiatus. The ambassadors of Oklahoma red dirt country seemed finished. Now sober and evidently stable, though, Felker has returned to music with fresh eyes and energy. As he sings in “The Rut,” “I’ve come back to the mountains and / they’re all still standing there.”
Turnpike Troubadours (photo by David McClister)
This record is a strong return by a consistent country band, one that earned a faithful fan base through hard touring and fiery live shows. This road-tested tightness drives A Cat in the Rain. Gabe Pearson’s drumming is both the backbone and the glue. The guitars are more patient and refined, owing either to Shooter Jennings’ production or the players’ mileage. Sobriety has joined the pantheon of themes, but not in a heavy-handed way. There’s the upbeat redemption tale of the title track, sure, but also a deliciously swampy cover of Ozark Mountain Daredevils’ “Black Sky.” “East Side Love Song (Bottoms Up)” and “Lucille” are classic Troubadours.
“We’ve echoed off of barroom walls / and buildings down on Main Street / thought the moon would never set on our back-alley roam,” Felker sings on bright mid-tempo anthem “Brought Me.” There’s some red dirt around the edges — a little distortion here; a little accordion there —but this window into a relationship destroyed by alcohol and then rescued by sobriety reaches far beyond Oklahoma, much like the Troubadours themselves.
“Oh, now still beat steady this heart I handed you for free / Should you ever need a thing, it won’t be hard to find me,” the band sings in a rich harmony on the “Brought Me” chorus. It’s catchy and arena-huge, built on hard-earned optimism and the second chances we make for ourselves.
Turnpike Troubadours’ A Cat in the Rain is out Aug. 25 via Bossier City Records/Thirty Tigers.
