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<\/a><\/p>\nI have been a fan of Charley Crockett\u2019s for a long time. He has become quite prolific and has produced five albums since 2017\u2019s Lil G.L.\u2019s Honky Tonk Jubilee. Earlier this year he produced an album called Field Recordings, Vol. 1. It\u2019s steeped in old time music with plenty of traditional and a few original tunes as well. Welcome To Hard Times is an album of mostly original tunes with a cover of Red Lane\u2019s \u201cBlackjack County Chain\u201d. This is Charley Crockett\u2019s best album yet and I\u2019m here to tell you why.<\/span><\/p>\n The album kicks off with the title track \u201cWelcome To Hard Times\u201d. I love this song. The piano riff is simple, catchy and takes you straight to the old spaghetti western movies. This album goes for that psychedelic western motif a lot and it helps to tie the entire thing together. Another great tune is \u201cRun Horse Run\u201d. It picks up the gambling theme and runs with it a bit on a song that sounds like a train going down the tracks. This one is sure to be fun to hear live. \u201cDon\u2019t Cry\u201d is a song about leaving that was co-written by Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin. This tune is a song about a man who is always bound to leave, but promises his girl that he\u2019s always coming back home. It\u2019s a great ballad that continues the western themes that run throughout this album.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLily My Dear\u201d is a song that sounds like a traditional banjo tune but it was written by Charley with Vincent Neil Emerson, Colin Colby and Tyler Heiser. It\u2019s a song about a woman who visits a man who is down on his luck in prison. It\u2019s a great tune. \u201cPaint It Blue\u201d is another great tune about an outlaw on the run who is missing the woman he left behind. I love the pedal steel throughout this track. Nathan Fleming does a great job on pedal steel throughout this album. \u201cBlackjack County Chain\u201d is another great tune that is a cover of a Red Lane song made famous by Willie Nelson. Willie Nelson saw some success with it, but this song was eventually removed from radio play because of the lyrics about slavery. Charley Crockett does a great job with this one and it fits right in on an album with tunes about outlaws, drifters and gamblers. Finally, \u201cThe Man That Time Forgot\u201d is a song that sounds like it came right from an album out of the 60\u2019s or 70\u2019s with it\u2019s superb pedal steel and solid country gold sound. <\/span><\/p>\n Charley Crockett comes off as someone with a deep knowledge of country and old time music. There\u2019s lots of piano driven honky tonk here mixed in with solid country gold and pedal steel. This album is full of stories of outlaws, prisoners, gamblers and ramblers and all of them have some kind of heartbreak. It\u2019s my favorite record of 2020 so far. Charley Crockett is definitely on my short list of names to see live when live shows start happening again. In the meantime, you can follow Charley on his website here<\/a>. Welcome To Hard Times came out on July 31st, 2020 and is available everywhere you can find good music.<\/span><\/p>\n Favorite Tracks<\/b> : Welcome To Hard Times, Run Horse Run, Don\u2019t Cry, Lily My Dear, Heads You Win, Paint It Blue, Blackjack County Chain, The Man That Time Forgot<\/span><\/p>\n