I was forwarded the website addy of Ronnie Fauss, and upon listening to the first song of the EP (New Songs for the Old Frontier – Vol 1), that you can hear on the site, I was hooked. This is classic singer-songwriter gold, from here in Dallas. Bits of folk and country pepper the tracks that feature Fauss’s raspy vocal. Produced by the surprisingly prolific Denton producer, Brent Best of Slobberbone/Drams fame, we are treated to songs that seem to show the producer simply staying out of the way and letting the songs and the playing of many of North Texas’ better players have the right amount of room they needed to lay it down. Best’s buds from The Drams, Joe Butcher and Chad Stockslager contributed pedal steel and piano work, repsectively.
Fauss’ lyrics cover love-making in many forms and frames of mind. In the mournful opener, “The Saddest Love That’s Ever Been Made”, Fauss sings of just that. As he asks his would be lover to “take off that black dress/lay down on that matress“, it is easy to see that this couple isnt the same couple (or at least is at a very different stage of their courtship) from another track, “The Last”. In the EP’s third song, Fauss declares, “I was your first, oh baby/let me be your last” right before he begs, “let’s make the happiest love that’s ever been made“.
Last year, around this same time, I was delighted to listen to another EP from a gifted folk singer-songwriter, Joe Pug. On the strength of his Nation of Heat EP, Pug has gone on to become a critical darling and will be featured on the stages of Bonnaroo and even Lollapalooza this year. While New Songs isnt the abstract, artful disc that Pug’s is, Fauss shows an equal amount of promise and flair for simply telling a story that would likely be sterile and mundane in another’s hands.
Go to Ronnie Fauss’ Website to listen to the entire New Songs for the Old Frontier: Vol. 1 EP
About the author: I likes me some wine, women and waffles, not always in that order (but usually). Chaucer is cool, but fart jokes are even better. You feel like spikin' your country with a little soul or mix in a little rock without the roll? Lemme hear from ya!!