Andrew Trube and Anthony Farrell are musicians’ musicians. Since 1999, their duo Greyhounds has become a seasoned road hog alongside American Idol winner Taylor Hicks and JJ Grey & Mofro, successful songwriters for the likes of Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, and released a batch of six albums. On the follow-up to 2016’s Change of Pace, seventh album Cheyenne Valley Drive, their breadth of experience imbues every groove. Adding drummer Ed Miles, the threesome stomps through scorched Texas blues on Highway 66 stretches of guitar and keyboards with Memphis City soul as their north star. No surprise, then, that the album was recorded at the legendary Sam Phillips Recording with acclaimed engineer Matt Ross-Spang. On opener “Learning How to Love,” Farrell’s gruff timbre morphs from solemn husks to earnest falsettos, and the juke joint “No Other Woman” marinates in big brass and chicken pickin’. Interstellar cruiser “Space Song” hovers along swashes of reverb and wah-wah before lifting off to a cosmic sprawl of chaotic solos and bubbling electronics. “12th Street” recalls the gentle rhythms of Fifties doo-wop, while “Rocky Love” and “Goodbye” back to back tap subdued funk with high polish. Cheyenne Valley Drive doesn’t deviate from the Austin groovers’ overall journey, but the attitude and bite keeps accelerating.
This article appears in May 25 • 2018.