With a name like Waylon, you better be country, and you better be at least a little bit Outlaw. For Michigan native Waylon Hanel, luckily he meets both of these requisites on his third album.
The post Album Review – Waylon Hanel’s “When Waylon Came To Nashville” first appeared on Saving Country Music.
Outlaw Country (#580) and Traditional Country (#510) on the Country DDS. With a name like Waylon, you better be country, and you better be at least a little bit Outlaw. For Michigan native Waylon Hanel, luckily he meets both of these requisites on what’s officially his third album When Waylon Came To Nashville. A student, champion, and torch bearer for all the old Outlaw greats, Waylon is looking to put his own stamp on the music with original songs, but is also impassioned by elevating the songs of the oldtimers so they don’t get lost in time. The title track and first three songs from this album come from the catalog of Billy Don Burns who is one of the last living links to country’s Outlaw era. A patron saint of people like Cody Jinks and Whitey Morgan as well, Billy Don recently caused a stir with his tale of shooting up cocaine mixed with Jack Daniels before ending up in the hospital. Don’t try that at home kids. “Talk About Crazy”? Yeah, that’s Billy Don Burns, and it’s a great song to start this album off with. It’s mind-blowing this Waylon Hanel’s version of Billy Don’s song “Keith Whitley Blue” is the only one active out there on DSPs, but good on Waylon for championing it. It’s songs like these about our deceased country legends that keep their memory alive, and hopefully will never cease to be sung. The reverent, but a little too on-the-nose title track concludes the Billy Don trilogy, but not the run of good songs. Hanel doesn’t have that deep, barrel-chested growl we’re often used to from country music’s Outlaw class. But as he proves on the song “Red Bricks,” his voice is exquisitely tooled for more straight ahead traditional country. Contrasted with the rowdy Outlaw songs on the album, “Red Bricks” is a heartbreaker that really hits home like a five-holed kiln-fired Acme taken right across the kisser. “Greyhound” is another great traditional country track that anchors this record.
Waylon Hanel’s got some great songs, a great voice when it’s brought to bear on the right track, great country music production behind his efforts, and smart country instincts to put it all together in a finished package. Hanel co-produced this album with Dave Hagen. He also includes a couple of self-penned songs in “Thinkin’ About Drinkin’” and “My Name” But Hanel also seems to understand there’s better songwriters out there than himself, and is not be afraid to utilize them—something other country performers often fail at. But similar to the experience of Waylon Hanel’s first two records that came in at seven and eight songs respectively, you conclude When Waylon Came To Nashville not really answering “Who is Waylon Hanel?” Or “What makes Hanel special or unique?” Either there’s a song or two missing to complete the thought, or maybe it’s lacking a more original or personal song or two to help solve that mystery. What this album does do is keep the torch burning for traditional and Outlaw country by presenting quality songs with passion and a sincere love for the art form. There will never be another Waylon Jennings. But there is a Waylon Hanel who is doing his part to keep the memory burning for all the country greats of the past, while making some memories of his own along the way. 1 1/2 Guns Up (7.9/10) – – – – – – – –Stream/Download When Waylon Came To Nashville
The Melvins, who had a big hand in Nirvana getting to what they amounted to, had many songs where they actually didn’t have lyrics at all, rather they made specific words that filled in the “punch” of the freezing of versus and choruses. This dude could benefit so much from crafting the specific words that would fit into each sentence to continue on with the melody and the groove. Johnny Fritz, by contrast, has found a way to throw stuff into phrasing that doesn’t rhyme at all and doesn’t match at all, but it just simply works. I don’t expect this Waylon to be able to be as creatively amazingly weird as Fritz, so I imagine he could gain incredible ground with working on the lyrics to make them simply flow and hit and kick properly.
I liked it better than you Trig, valid criticisms tho, it’s thin in a lot of spots. “Gypsy Angel” on that last record was so good, haven’t quite heard him better that effort here but it’s pretty easy to spin top to bottom.