Bruce Robison
It Came From San Antonio (Premium)
Reviewed by Christopher Gray, Fri., May 25, 2007

Bruce Robison
It Came From San Antonio (Premium)
With Bruce Robison's track record ("Desperately," "Travelin' Soldier"), surely It Came From San Antonio is already circulating 'round Music Row, where publishing reps strip-mine their in-boxes for that next introspective No. 1 smash. So put bullets next to acoustic alienation duet "What Makes You Say" and Warren Zevon-ish creeper "My Baby Now," but Robison spends most of his seven-song EP a little closer to home. "When It Rains" updates the train-bound folk of Butch Hancock and Guy Clark, "Anywhere but Here" (co-written with Monte Warden) sounds like sunset over Lake Austin, and the titular Sir Douglas Quintet tribute is a Vox-fueled gas, gas, gas. There's a lot of Rodney Crowell in "Lifeline," and a mandolin melody that's pure sunshine. Released on its author's in-house indie, San Antonio might be a little hard for non-Austinites to track down, but country fans all over should hear a song or two soon enough.