Bottom Line:This aptly-titled, highly-anticipated release from Roger Wallace finally follows up his 2003 The
Lowdown, a disc that's still pretty regular in my personal rotation. Wallace is, to me, possibly
the finest 'unknown' country singer in existence - oh, certainly, his name is ranked with the other
great Independent/Americana Texas singers, but I never hear it the way you do Ingram and Keen,
Watson and Ely, or Morrow and Green; I've even been asked "who?" when I mention his name.
But Roger Wallace writes, plays, and sings some great, great country songs, and it's about time
his name was better known.
Roger Wallace stands out for me as a monumental singer/songwriter. I started my infatuation
with his 2003 release,
The Lowdown, and promptly had to get his earlier discs,
Hillbilly
Heights and
That Kind of Lonely. I never get tired of listening to these; in particular
Hillbilly
Heights is a favorite, with tunes like "Wishful Drinking" and "Wine by Wine", while
That Kind of Lonely' gives the title track and a terrific cover of "I Never Picked Cotton."
So at long last, there's a companion to these (although it was hard to find; I had to download it -
legally, of course - from iTunes). It's About Time is a little different sound for Roger; to be
sure, he sticks to a solid true country tradition, but there's a little less of the pure-spun honky-
tonk dance feel to the whole. There's a touch of true mountain Appalachia here, with a jangle of
mandolin on the lovely "Everloving Sunday" or flat-out bluegrass sounds on the uptempo
"Prodigal Daughter, Favorite Son." Still, he doesn't disappoint the dance lovers, with the
opening track, "(My Little Corner of) Honky Tonk Hell," and the twangy "If It Wasn't for
Me" (my favorite song here, really).
Roger wrote everything on this go-around, except for the
closing track, "The Confession," written by fellow Texas musician Jim Stringer. It's a part
spoken, part-sung treatise on drinking, cheating, betrayal, and God - in other words, pretty much
a straightforward real country song.
The one clunker, as it were, for me is the anti-smoking laws rant "Smoke 'Em if You Got
'Em". It's not that it's a bad song - on the contrary, it's really, really catchy, good to dance to,
great two-stepper. Problem is, I'm really of two minds about smoking in honky-tonks. On the
one hand, I know the guys love a smokey room and I'm all for freedom of choice - if you don't
want to breathe smoke, don't go into a place with smoking. On the other, I'm very fond of going
to honky-tonks myself. Now, I never complained, but I'm mildly allergic to smoke, so therefore,
I have to admit I've really enjoyed the last year or so when I've been able to enjoy the music and
the beer without being sick all the next day. I really enjoy reading Roger's political rants on his
blog (he's a great writer), but I don't think I like it in his music that much. It probably won't stop
me listening to the song, though. As I said, it's great to dance to, and even when I'm listening to
him at work, I'm dancing in my mind. Besides, the rest of disc is a lot of fun, and just plain
good. I know I'll be listening to it for a long, long time. I just hope Roger doesn't wait this long next
time to give us some new stuff, because seriously? It's about time.
Release date: August 4, 2007 - Lazy S.O.B. Records
Song List:
(My Little Corner of) Honky Tonk Hell
It's About Time
Give Me a Reason
If It Wasn't for Me
Everloving Sunday
Smoke 'Em if You Got 'Em
I Want That Water
Alone at Last
Frantic
All By My Lonesome
Prodigal Daughter, Favorite Son
My Way's the Highway
The Confession
