Doug Moreland’s Bring Back the Swing, the local fiddler’s ninth LP, begins with easy-rolling Western swing. Strings straight from the dance hall, the ever consummate entertainer, songwriter, and host of Sun Radio’s Behind the Lines keeps boots shuffling. Moreland’s hardly trying to reinvent the wheel, but he has enough natural charm and talent to rise above the standard fare. “Cotton Pickin’ Time” picks slyly, and the whistling, yodeling lope of “Rodeo Clown” swings with ingenuity. “Daddy in the Caddy” riffs on “Hot Rod Lincoln.” The back end expands scope with the dark, growling “Bread and Circus” and ballad of “El Muerto.” Likewise the adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s dire poem “The Gods of the Copybook Headings” nestles oddly against the playful tirade “Taxes,” but “Texas Dust” settles back on more familiar terrain.

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This article appears in December 25 • 2015.

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Doug Freeman has been writing for the Austin Chronicle since 2007, covering the arts and music scene in the city. He is originally from Virginia and earned his Masters Degree from the University of Texas. He is also co-editor of The Austin Chronicle Music Anthology, published by UT Press.