Review Text
Conceived in Nashville, recorded in Seattle. 12 original songs and a cover of the Rolling Stones' 'Wild Horses' create an often bittersweet, and sometimes twangy musical portrait of the Seattle Roots Rock/Alt. Country band, Westerly. The album features the tracks, 'Pour the Wine,' 'Every Word,' and 'Third Wheel.' 'This Lonesome Town' was recorded and mixed entirely on Analog Tape using mostly vintage instruments and mics. There were few overdubs and many of the songs were recorded mostly live. Also featured on the record is Kevin Suggs on the Pedal Steel Guitar. Seattle Sound Magazine Review, by Kim Ruehl 'WESTERLY - This Lonesome Town 4 stars It's not country music, exactly. But, if you ask Westerly bassist Bob Hyde, he will tell you that country music is, categorically, as broad a word as "rock" these days. Artists playing on country radio run the gamut from sounds-like-teeny-bopper-pop to sounds-like-classic-hard-rock. When Westerly went to Nashville to plan their new record, This Lonesome Town, they came to understand why country music has become such a patchwork phenomenon, flung so far from the music of Hank, Johnny, Roy and Merle. Stroll down Music Row, and you'll find dive after dive full of cover-tune-slinging singer-songwriters. But, wander into the Wildhorse Saloon before show time, and you'll hear a classic Tom Petty track from the stereo alongside the latest from Death Cab and an obscure selection from Bettye LaVette's first record. While Westerly can't separate from the country label (their band name itself doesn't exactly sound rock and roll), their music pulls together as many disparate influences as does Music City. It's a critic's habit to compare new artists to old, but there's no carefully whittled pigeonhole into which a band like Westerly can burrow. It would be more appropriate to liken them to the CD collection of a Nashville dive bar, or a genre-bending tune like the Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses." Conveniently, they deliver a terrific rendition of that classic Stones tune towards the end of This Lonesome Town. Joshua Schramm's vocals sound more Don Henley than Mick Jagger, though. Kory Nagler's piano and Kevin Suggs' pedal steel are all the song really needs. It's a stripped-down cover made sweeter by the natural intuitive blend of Schramm's lead vocals with Nagler's distant falsetto. The disc is aptly titled, though, as there's hardly a heart-warming tune in the bunch. This is a lonely record. Even the catchy sweetness of "Memphis" can't distract from the fact that the song is about falling in love with someone who lives thousands of miles away. "Slow Train" is so sad there's no option but to end it with some CSN&Y-like caterwauling. By the time Nagler gets to the vaguely Pink Floyd-esque "Before You Came," your cold and lonesome heart is ready to embrace the melodrama of lines like "Freezing rain or scorching heat / your city wants me dead." Here, Nagler's voice is almost as scratchy as Hyde's fuzz bass. Schramm's watery guitar is broken by the dissonant, scratching high-pitched cords. Next to the tongue-in-cheek drunken babble lyrics of "Third Wheel" (and that song's sheer rockability), this is the finest moment on the disc. Whether or not it'll ever make sense on country radio is up to the DJs. Whatever it is, it's good.'
