Wednesday, May 16, 2012

CD Review: Darryl Gregory's 'Big Texas Sky'

Darryl Gregory
Big Texas Sky
Emptyhead Musikwerks

Darryl Gregory's home-base in Connecticut is not the usual place for creating alternative country music. However, Darryl succeeds with his latest release, Big Texas Sky, and doesn't let his New England base affect his Texas roots. The release is rather short, but it contains seven diverse alternative country, pop, or folk compositions for a total of thirty-two minutes. The bluesy-rock song, "Prayer & Hallelujah," is steeped in Southern guitar stylings--the 'gospel' of the musical South. The pensive piano ramblings of "Aunt Jean's Piano" contains a loving, devotional sound with vocals from Michel Rae Driscoll and Jim Allyn on fiddle and mandolin. Darryl's contribution is not limited to vocals and guitars--the drums and piano are also played. "Workin' Man" contains a steel or ironworker sound of hammering with a gritty, muffled vocal track amidst a bluesy background. Overall, Darryl aims high with Big Texas Sky and leaves a few good songs for us to soak up. ~ Matthew Forss

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