Phillip Lammonds (from the album Cowboy Things

Phillip Lammonds (from the album Cowboy Things

Phillip Lammonds (from the album Cowboy Things available on Freestone Records) (by Stephen David Austin)
Phillip Lammonds says his primary influences are the ‘Big Three’ of Randy Newman, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Bill Monroe. That was enough motivation for me to give him a listen. I’m glad I did. Cowboy Things marks the first commercial release of Lammonds performing his own songs, and if the production isn’t as slick as a typical Nashville release, all the better.  I’ve found that most songwriters—assuming they can sing--give the most visceral interpretations of their own songs. Cowboy Things is no exception.
 
Paradoxically, these compositions—if left to mainstream artists--might have eluded my ears, given my steadfast avoidance of mainstream Country radio – it's not that it's all bad, but to my ears, most of it still sounds like Def Leppard with a fiddle. 
 
Cowboy Things was produced by Country megastar Lee Brice, who has charted as a performer on many Lammonds compositions over the years. Recorded in Brice’s home recording space, Pumphouse Studio, in just two days, all songs started with Lammonds’ vocal and guitar tracks. Additional tracks were layered in full takes without comps or click tracks. By using this no-frills approach, the songs retain a soulful quality that could have been lost to overproduction. The best cuts have sparse instrumentation, incorporating elements of acoustic guitar, dobro, fiddle, cigar box percussion, harmonica, and Hammond B3 organ. I wasn’t able to find a list of the musicians involved in the project, but they’re pretty damn good.
 
The album’s opening track, “Love is Love”, features guest vocalist Darius Rucker. The cut is an all-inclusive love song for the new millennium. It features layered vocals and crunchy electric guitars offset by a subtle banjo track and nice use of dynamics. Co-written by Lammonds, Hannah Dasher, and Tiffany Goss, it brings to mind the Lammonds-penned “One Love,” a hit for Hootie and the Blowfish in 1998.
"Supposed to Fall in Love" stands out as a poignant ballad, echoing the golden era of duets. While the female singer is uncredited, the chemistry between the voices is undeniable. It's easy to imagine this track becoming a future duet sensation, possibly in the hands of a country power couple like Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. 
 
"Coffee Black" brings a contagious toe-tapping groove, seamlessly blending acoustic guitar, Hammond B3 organ, and distinctive cigar-box percussion. Originally titled "Fried Bologna Mustard Only," this earworm promises to be a future CMA favorite, capturing the essence of good ol' boys and their admirers.
“I’d Give Anything” is a is a nice acoustic love song that opens with finger-picked guitar and fiddle, again with the cigar-box percussion, building instrumentation and vocal harmony gradually without overdoing it. It’s reminiscent of JJ Cale.
“What I’d Pay to Do” is a reflection on Lammonds’ life as a successful songwriter. The irresistible chorus invokes the ghost of Harlan Howard in a variation his immortal line, “three chords and the truth”:
“Cowboy Things,” the album’s title track, reminds us that Phillip Lammonds is first and foremost a storyteller. He said the title came to him through “pure, divine intervention.” One night when tucking his young son into bed, his little buckaroo looked up at him and said “Dad, the coolest things are cowboy things.” The song tells of an aging cowboy looking back on life as he faces the last roundup, with the hook, “Then he closes his eyes and dreams of cowboy things.” The sparse arrangement of acoustic guitar and fiddle gives the lyric plenty of room to breathe and makes it a standout on an album full of standout tracks. Don’t be surprised when this one shows up on “Yellowstone” or one of its franchises. (by Stephen David Austin)
 
Reviewed by Stephen David Austin for RootsMusicUnderground.com
 
Original post on RootsMusicUnderground found here
 
Listen and buy the music of Phillip Lammonds from AMAZON
 
For more information, head to the Phillip Lammonds website