Hillbilly Idol – Self-Titled

Hillbilly Idol draws from an abundance of musical styles encircling (albeit at some geographic distance) their Great Lakes home of Cleveland, Ohio. Honky-tonk, western swing, bluegrass, and even polka are woven through the music played by this quintet.

More than half the songs on this sophomore album were penned by steel guitarist Al Moss, with another two each by multi-instrumentalists (guitars, banjo, mandolin, piano) Paul Kovac and Dave Huddleston. The songs dip into tradition without being straitjacketed by it; these are vibrant songs, full of sly confidence.

Lyrically, Moss finds or creates resilient catch phrases that don’t trip over themselves in a rush to be clever (“Hurt Heart Broke” and “Between Here And Heaven And Gone”). The three covers offer a further glimpse of their diversity: the Louvin Brothers’ “She Didn’t Even Know I Was Gone”, Tim O’Brien’s “Late In The Day” and Jimmy Giuffre’s Woody Herman staple “Four Brothers”.

The album closes with Huddleston’s instrumental, “Sirocco”. It’s part Morricone, part spy film theme and the tune wraps up the proceedings on a surprise note. Starting and ending with a wordless chorus vocal, the song is a model of unified diversity, just like Hillbilly Idol themselves.