Ole Lonesome – Tejas Motel
Gulf Coast Records – 2023
10 tracks; 45 minutes
Ole Lonesome is a five piece band from Texas and this is their debut album release. Gulf Coast boss Mike Zito already knew vocalist and guitarist Zachary Feemster who was in the band that toured with him presenting his 2011 release Greyhound. Feemster’s band impressed Zito and Gulf Coast has an aim of presenting worthy but lesser known acts, so Ole Lonesome fits that agenda also. Joining Zachary in the band are guitarist Greg Achord, keyboard player Gregory Mosley, bassist J Wesley Hardin and drummer Jimmy Devers. Zito produced the album in Dockside Studios in Louisiana and Kid Andersen mixed and mastered the disc at his Greaseland Studio in California. All material is credited to the whole band.
First of all, this is definitely a blues-rock album, if not a rock album with a few hints of blues. “Yvette” is proving too much for Zachary: “The way you throw your love around makes it hard to be your man”. The guitar riffs play off each other in each ear (if you are listening on headphones) over a churning rhythm and there is no let-up as “Gold Chevy” roars in with searing guitar riffs and heavy bass and tales of New Orleans voodoo queens, immediately followed by “Steady Mistreater” which is slower-paced but still full of big chords from the two guitarists. “Momma’s Worry” rockets along with hints of Zeppelin in the heavy drums and tough riffs and a Stones/Robert Johnson reference in the lyrics of “the blue light was my blues and the red light was my mind”. “Easy Street” has some great riffs and a lighter touch in the rhythm section as Zachary declares that “Texas blues sure got a hold on me” but “Lo Key” returns to a heavier style as Zito joins in the guitar fun.
“Ain’t No Good” is a slower tune and the closest to straight blues we get here. The longest cut at just over six minutes, the band takes its time and the piano work is a feature of this one, as well as some subtle guitar touches, for this reviewer the best cut on the album. An insistent riff underpins “The Fool” as Zachary confesses that he is in thrall to this girl, a solid guitar solo also enhancing the track. The band returns to rockier fare for “Natural Fact” before closing with the title track “Tejas Motel” which seems a rather seedy place “girls prowling though the hall, nicotine stain on the wall”, the music being more in Americana style with some good interplay between the guitars.
Not a lot for traditional blues fans to get excited about here, but if you like blues-rock and plenty of guitar riffs this one should be of interest.
