A few months back, along with a couple of other CD’s I was reviewing, I received a copy of Damon Fowler’s Sugar Shack . I put it on at the time, it was OK, I didn’t think too much about it. I realized this weekend that I keep coming back to this disc. I know the particular reason: he does a cover of the old Amazing Rhythm Aces hit, Third Rate Romance . I happen to really like the original, and think it’s the tip of a genre, country reggae, there just isn’t enough of. Anyway, Damon does a great cover on this album, and I started listening again to some of the other songs.
The album starts off with Some Fun , a song with all kinds of good guitar pickin’ and grinnin’. Some Fun indeed. You’re then transported to the Texas Hill Country for Hope It’s Gonna Rain , a raw, bluesy guitar number that’s reminiscent of Texas Flood . Not to say Damon is quite Stevie Ray Vaughn, but it’s good to hear that style. Similarly nice slide work fills James .
A little further down is Sugar Shack , a swampy, nasty sounding piece that shows influence from the Creedence Clearwater Revival sound. Also good is Wrong Side of the Road , with a syncopated sound like what drew me to this in the first place. And he finishes the collection with Chunk of Coal , the Billy Joe Shaver classic that sounds so good with its raw Telecaster edge.
I’m tempted to say the album could have used a little more polish from a production standpoint. But then it might have truly gotten lost in my collection, so I’m going to say that medium rare was just the right doneness to showcase the underlying talent. If you like bluesy guitar and a nice variety packaged into a single album, give Sugar Shack a listen.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.