Mike Clifford - The Heartbreak Grill And Bar

If you want an album full of good quality music that isn't a carbon copy of everything else out there on the radio then you should try 'The Heartbreak Grill And Bar.' Mike writes his own music and you can tell he is an original. He knows what he does best and he does it very well.

'The Heartbreak Grill And Bar' is the second Mike Clifford album I've had the chance to review & it is even better than the last. He still has a rockin' edge to his country music & the fact he writes ten out of eleven songs is very impressive. With the album being a "Texas Dancehall Concept Album," all I have to say is that any dancehall would be lucky to have Mike Clifford perform there - it's that simple.

The album's title track, "The Heartbreak Grill And Bar," is about a place where there's no cover charge & the heartbreak also seems to be a freebie. Pauline Reese joins Mike on the song, "My Heart's Got A Mind Of It's Own." Though the man tells his heart to "take it slow" it won't listen to him & he falls for someone once again. Pauline's weakness in the song seems to be baby blue eyes because they cause her to "cross over the line." "It's All Texas Music To Me" is about how Texas music, & music in general, somehow gets caught up in different "sub-genres." Why label music? You like what you like.

"Hand Me Down Love" is a slower song about a man who thought he'd found his true love until she used his love & tossed it aside. The next song is about a man who knows his lady will always come back after a fight so he calls her his little "Boomerang." "The best part of fighting is making up the very next day," Mike sings. In "Family Reunion" you realize a get-together wouldn't be complete without a little bit of food, beer, & family members reliving the past.