Wade Bowen Pays Tribute to Texas with ‘Solid Ground’
Tara Joan
Posted On February 9, 2018
Texas-based troubadour Wade Bowen returns on February 9th with his long-awaited new album, Solid Ground. Working with friend and producer Keith Gattis, Solid Ground features eleven tracks that exemplify the varied musical soundscapes that are the Lone Star State. From the roots-rocking opener “Couldn’t Make You Love Me” to the Gattis-penned Tex-Mex seasoned tale of lost love “Day of the Dead,” the bittersweet harmonica and keys accented “Acuna” and the nostalgic “So Long 6th Street” the melodies and stories on Solid Ground carry you throughout Texas, imparting an auditory guide of the singer-songwriter’s beloved home state.
On Solid Ground, Bowen and Gattis balance grittier tracks with heart-rendering ballads, tunes which Bowen has always had the ability to craft well, and continues to do here, including the haunting, remorseful “Broken Glass,” album stand-out “7:30,” an achingly painful yet beautifully universal story, and “Anchor,” a tale of crumbling love. Solid Ground is rounded out with the jaunty bluegrass-flaired ode to love “Compass Rose,” the rollicking “Fell In Love On Whiskey,” and the Guy Clark inspired solemn and comforting shuffler “Death, Dyin’ And Deviled Eggs,” before closing out with the moody, cinematic “Calling All Demons” a track that, at almost eight minutes long, perfectly completes an album that is varied, cohesive, and yes, incredibly solid.
