Wayne Hancock

Wayne Hancock

A-Town Blues (Bloodshot) Wayne the Train's at it again, and on Bloodshot Records this time. All the ducks are in a row for the local honky-tonker, with killer backup from Dave Biller (axe), Jeremy Wakefield (steel), Shawn Supra (bass), and producer Lloyd Maines twiddling the knobs at Cedar Creek Studios and even having a go at the pedal steel contraption. Tunes like "Man of the Road," "Life's Lonesome Road," and the title tune are fairly self-explanatory, with Hancock, driven by that ol' Jimmie Rodgers-style wanderlust, going down the highway one more time in search of the next honky-tonk, women, and drink. There's a departure from the tried-and-true in the form of "Miller, Jack, and Mad Dog," a cautionary tale about the perils of drunken driving, and "Route 23," an ode to a dead lover. Maines' deft hand at production gives the disc a spare, bare-bones sound that lights up the sound like a single naked 100-watt light bulb; the interplay between Biller and Wakefield especially stands out. The only time Hancock really falls down is on the slower, jazzier songs, standards like "We Three" and "Cow Cow Boogie." His patented Hank III/Hank Sr./Jimmie Rodgers hillbilly yowl doesn't have the nuance the songs cry out for. Granted, Hancock is no Mel Tormé, nor should he be, but it's a little grating to hear the exact same inflections on songs that would do much better with more croon and less juke-joint holler. Still, he's got the traditionalist crowd riding in his hip pocket like a flask of Old Grand-Dad, and this disc should solidify that following even more. It swings like crazy, there's some top-notch playing, and Hancock certainly knows his way around a country-blues song.