CD Review - Old Gray Mule "Like a Apple on a Tree"
CR Humphrey, who is better known under his nom de musicien Old Gray Mule, is a hell of a good guy. It's clear when you see him play live, when you hear the soulful licks he lays down on tape, when you chat with him, and when you read the notes for the latest Old Gray Mule album Like a Apple on a Tree: everything he does is imbued with lots of heart, humor, and flat-out joy. He gives the lie to the "tortured artist" myth - you rarely meet someone more satisfied with his lot in life, even through…See More
CR Humphrey, who is better known under his nom de musicien Old Gray Mule, is a hell of a good guy. It's clear when you see him play live, when you hear the soulful licks he lays down on tape, when you chat with him, and when you read the notes for the latest Old Gray Mule album Like a Apple on a Tree: everything he does is imbued with lots of heart, humor, and flat-out joy. He gives the lie to the "tortured artist" myth - you rarely meet someone more satisfied with his lot…
Often when you hear a band who sits at the, some would say unlikely, crossroads of country and punk, it seems the punk tag is only given a passing nod, more evident in band members' tattoos than in the music. Fistful of Beard, who hail from the northern Alabama town of Decatur, attack it from the opposite direction. On FoB's new album, Until We Know Better, the guitars crash more than they jangle - though the music always speaks with an Alabaman accent, an accent of good…
It was a part of the deal for me, sometimes consumed before the music was even played. Vinyl had them. CDs had them. Even fricking cassettes had them. And in the pre-internet age when all of the information I sought was not gathered in one convenient location, it was a cornerstone on which I built my reputation as someone who knew too much shit about music.
