The Waymores - Greener Pastures

by Kevin Wierzbicki

The Waymores love classic country and if you do too you'll quickly fall in love with Greener Pastures which includes a faithful interpretation of the great Buck Owens cut "Under Your Spell Again." The song of infatuation with a lover finds singers Kira Annalise and Willie Heath Neal cooing sweetly over a melody that just drips old style country vibes, thanks mostly to steel guitar parts from Dave Pearlman. Steel guitar also plays a big part in a cover of the Marty Robbins oldie "Don't Worry" which otherwise moves along to the loping tempo that will be very familiar to fans of country music from the '60s. Another notable cover is the upbeat "You Got Gold," penned by the beloved John Prine. All the old style sensibilities are put to good use on original cuts too like the bouncy (and yes, steel guitar enhanced) "Time to Ramble" which has a great sing along chorus and the hopeful "Greener Pastures." The voices of Neal and Annalise mesh nicely throughout, Neal's all deep and masculine, Annalise's rich with quavering emotion, and in that respect sometimes recalling Janis Joplin. "She's Gone" is a fast shuffle that'll pack the dance floor while "Tavern Time" is a fun ode to drinking with lines like "My gal split last Sunday, I been blasted since past Monday." A spin of Greener Pastures will have listeners happily looking forward to going honky-tonking.

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