Dirt Rock Empire

****1/2

Texas outlaw Creed Fisher serves up another impeccable collection of self-penned songs which fuses the best of classic honky-tonk, Southern rock frenzy, country-rock sentiment and even biting commentary. Each of these gutsy songs is filled with bold signposts about the enigmatic artist, his rebel appetite and his reckless heart. They shine through a sepia hew, capturing in the aural imagery a rugged, rural glimpse of America’s southern divide. In tone, treatment and tempo, Creed makes ‘Rebel In the South’ more than a blanket claim. Prevalent in his delivery, his influences (Waylon, Merle, Hank Jr, Jones, Strait, Cash and even the Allmans) contour his less-is-more sound and knack to produce impressionable imagery and energy. He pens potently vivid narratives that mine the underside of hardscrabble rural America: his characters are people we all know.

He opens in a strident and defiant mood with Cuz I’m Country. It’s a rip-snorter made for knocking out windows and tearing down doors as he elaborates his roughneck good ol’ boy roots with countrified lines atop a mix of sweeping electric guitars, booming drums and a drawling edgy southern twang. He then reins it in for the reflective Nashville, a compelling put-down of all that’s wrong down on Music Row and Broadway these days. With a cajoling cynicism he makes it very clear that he has no intention of following in the footsteps of his musical heroes to walk the streets of a now ‘non-country’ Music City. He then heads down a Southern rock highway for Down and Dirty, which some might say: ‘Hey, that ain’t Country!’ More fitting for a Skynyrd or Allmans’ album, this kicks up the dust with a fury that cannot be ignored. Acoustic guitar noodling, reminiscent of a Marty Robbins’ classic, opens the title song. His voice has a gentler edge as he once again lays out his views on today’s country music, with a ‘politically-incorrect’ put-down of Bro-country and gay cowboys. An updated Murder On Music Row type song, the whole musical arrangement will take die-hard trad country fans back to the true country music feeling that they’ve been missing.

He brings a comedic touch to the album with Earplugs And Beer, a kind of ‘male chauvinist pig’, putting a bitching partner firmly in her place! The lyrics, the driving tempo, and the rootsy country arrangement featuring fiddles, harmonica and chicken-pickin’ guitar all blend perfectly. The break-up account he lays out in I Still Miss You, carries his deepest sorrows and depressions, as well as the accompanying memories. With weeping steel guitar, this is pure cry-in-your-beer country with that sad, slow, distinctly Southern voice that marked those classic Vern Gosdin heartbreakers. His vocals on Daughter Of An Outlaw are edgy over a funked-up soundtrack that Jamey Johnson would be comfortable with. A song dedicated to his two daughters, Creed sounds at ease, relaxed and more than a little proud of the kids he’s raised. He takes it into church on Wasted Life, a mournful confession to his wayward past that sounds like a lost soul preaching from the pulpit. The acoustic guitar underpinnings and haunting harmonica, combined with his despondent vocals and lyrics fare illed with the kind of ugly truths you can only find in a broken relationship. The sombre I’ll Keep Drinkin’ is classic honky-tonk. His easy, smooth vocal delivery, offering up shades of a young George Strait on a track that conjures up images of an empty dance hall haunted by the ghosts who once glided across its old wood floors. Yeah, these are all brilliant songs, which pull together a range of genuine country influences, from a man with something to say. Authentic stuff. Take note.

www.creedfisher.com

June 2022