Review: Make a Move – Hill Country Revue

August 19th, 2009

Whether the South shall rise again remains to be seen. But, if the guys in Hill Country Revue have their way, Southern rock surely will.

Last year the North Mississippi All-Star’s guitarist and singer Luther Dickinson hit the road with The Black Crowes leaving brother and drummer Cody Dickinson and bassist Chris Chew to mull their options. Rather than sitting on their duffs waiting for their peripatetic bandmate to return to the fold, they joined with a trio of musicians to form Hill Country Revue. Cody graduated to lead guitar while Edward “Hot” Cleveland filled out the rhythm section. Dan Coburn took on vocal duties and Kirk Smithhart completed the line-up along with his guitar. The result of this collaboration is Make a Move, released this past spring.

The vast majority of the songs here were penned by Garry Burnside, the youngest son of blues legend R.L. Burnside. It seems that he his the sixth member of the band who refrains from touring with the rest of the group. Oddly enough, two of the remaining songs are by the elder Burnside. Considering the pedigrees of the people involved, it should come as no surprise that Hill Country Revue wallow are steeped in blues boogie. They also bring to the table the updated Allman Brothers sound of Cody and Chris’ other band. Joining Cody and Smithhart on guitar at various points on the album are brother Luther, Garry Burnside, and his brother Duwayne who had previously played with NMAS.

Whereas NMAS usually managed to stay fleet of foot, the army of guitars from the hill country all too often bogs down the proceedings as solos drag on and the songs career into Lynyrd Skynyrd territory. A good example is “Hill Country Revue”, which starts off well enough as a Southern anthem with a steady beat, but devolves into nothing but a whirlwind of flashy soloing ala Steve Vai. There’s just too little space between the notes. And this problem afflicts most of the album. On the bright side is the soulful “You Can Make It” with its catchy chorus and considerably more down to earth guitar work. Another song here worth its salt is “Let’s Talk About Me and You”. It’s a slow-burning slab of blues which features some understated harmonica from Coburn. While there is no shortage of soloing, these 6-string excursions are gritty and stay with you rather than yielding to more shredding. When the band give the songs space, instead of filling them up with fretwork, the results are inspiring.

The guys in HCR have a lot of talent but Make a Move is mostly light with precious little heat. Here’s hoping for a better sophomore effort.

Related posts:

1. Hill Country Revue Debut Album & Video
2. Show #17: R.I.P. – R.L. Burnside
3. "The hidden faces of country"
4. Review: The Dynamics – First Landing
5. Review: Keller & the Keels, grass