Like clockwork, one can expect another set of new songs from Colin Gilmore about every three years. Third full-length The Wild and Hollow follows 2010’s Goodnight Lane and it’s another step forward as he mixes jangling pop with a twangy brand of rock in a way that’s effortless and attractive. He claims influences like Roy Orbison and Tom Petty, which make sense on “Wait” and “Only Real to Me.” In reality, Gilmore’s songs of life and love are closer to what fellow West Texas native Buddy Holly would sound like if he were still able to strap on a guitar. Check the deceptively easygoing folk/rockabilly amalgam “Free Money.” From the obvious glint of opener “Into My Future” to the stomping cover of Nick Lowe’s “Raging Eyes” closing things out, Gilmore again displays a youthful vision that’s crafty, full of cogent insight, and endlessly tuneful.
This article appears in August 30 • 2013.