Picture if you will someone who looks kind of like Shaggy from Scooby Doo with a guitar and a slow Texas drawl, well that’s Hayes Carll. Hayes is a young dude from Houston who’s spent time in the music scenes of Austin and the Galveston/gulf coast area. About two years ago, I started seeing his name pop up all over the old Nine Bullets board. People were seeing his shows and the cover shot of his Trouble in Mind record was all over the What’s Everybody Listening To thread. Right about that time, by total coincidence, my aunt from New Jersey sent me the CD from Amazon. Coming from an artist I’d never heard before, Trouble in Mind hit me like few other records have in my adult years - the only ones I can think of are Brighter Than Creation’s Dark in 2008 and Car Wheels in 1998, and maybe the Flying Burrito Bros Anthology that I found in 2007. To me at least, this record is that good.
The songs on Trouble in Mind are filled with seedy characters, grimy bars, shimmering gulf coast beaches, whiskey drinkers, pot smokers, carousers, wild nights, wild women and a great sense of humor. Musically, it's got everything we all like - blues, rock, country, pedal steel, fiddle, etc. Here are some track-by-track thoughts…
Drunken Poet’s Dream – I need to find a girl like this. Co-written with Ray Wylie Hubbard
It's a Shame - "Just kissing for hours underneath that sweet magnolia" - mmmmm
Girl Downtown – might just be the sweetest song ever written. My little girl always sings it with me in the car.
Bad Liver and a Broken Heart - a great title, a great riff and a great opening line ("Arkansas, my head hurts!")
Beaumont – “where the water meets the shore” – Never been there but I’ve no doubt Beaumont’s as beautiful as it sounds in this song.
I Got a Gig - you gotta love bars like this
Faulkner Street - I think this is what it's like when Cotter and Wrekkr go to the shakk for a couple of weeks
Wild as a Turkey - "Empty as my wallet on a Sunday afternoon" - yep, we've all been there
Don't Let Me Fall - a good ol' fashioned downer.
A Lover Like You - play that slide!
I Don't Want to Grow Up - the Hayes Carll drawl on a Tom Waits cover. Was there ever a truer song?
Knockin Over Whiskeys – “you got me spinnin’ round in circles like a tin can in the spokes” - love it.
Willing to Love Again - a loser's lament. Look inside this song and you might see someone you know really well
She Left Me for Jesus - just who is this jesus guy? one of the funniest songs ever (see below for the equally hilarious vid)
By the way, DBT’s not the only band coming out with a new record on February 15. Hayes’ follow up to Trouble in Mind is due out that day too. It’s called K.M.A.G. Y.O.Y.O. which stands for Kiss My Ass Guys, You’re on Your Own. You can hear part of the title track and also a new holiday song on his myspace page http://www.myspace.com/hayescarll and there’s more info on his website http://www.hayescarll.com/store/
Here’s some vids and pics and stuff. Looking forward to everyone’s thoughts, particularly from anyone who’s familiar with his first two records.
