Over the past two decades, Jason Boland and The Stragglers have made their imprint on the country scene with their Red Dirt / Texas Country sound and have done so quite successfully. Their solid fan-base continues to pack theaters and dance-halls around the nation while their support has resulted in independent sales of their eight studio and two live albums to over 500,000 units sold. The quartet, currently made up of Jason Boland (vocals, guitar), Brad Rice (drums, vocals), Grant Tracy (bass) and Nick Worley (fiddle, mandolin, vocals), recently added a ninth album to their catalog with Hard Times Are Relative, their fifth release via Thirty Tigers, on May 18th.
Boland is as authentic as they come, even when it comes to the production of a record. Now a Stragglers’ trademark, Hard Times Are Relative was recorded live to tape, with no further digital production or clean-up added. Imperfections are genuine, as Boland discussed in a recent interview with Billboard: “The way music’s produced now, nobody gets it. It’s just sad. I would rather hear an imperfection than hear something I knew was completely false or flown in or computer-fixed and digitally perfect. Yeah, it takes so much longer, and people still hear our stuff now and are like, ‘Oh, that doesn’t sound that good.’ But as long as we like the mix and it feels real to us, that’s what we want.”
This true-to-life album kicks off with the fun, fast paced “I Don’t Deserve You” with a tempo that invokes envisions of dancing at a honky-tonk. Boland’s lower register shines through each verse as he praises the woman standing by his side and is later joined by another kindred spirit known for her own “what you see is what you get” attitude. Sunny Sweeney adds her Texas touch, blending her vocals perfectly with Boland during the chorus.
The ability to tell a story through lyrics is a traditional and well-loved characteristic of country music, and there are several stories told among the album’s 10 songs. Take the title track for instance. A heart-wrenching tale of a young brother and sister who lost their parents in a fire is revealed in the seven verses. Told from the brother’s point of view, he knows what it is that they have to do to survive, and how they only have each other for support. They are all that’s left of their family:
On the land there stands a cabin that our grandfather built
When I’m away a-huntin’ I feel overrun with guilt
‘Cause Darlene’s all alone except for the dog and awful dreams
She’s seven years my younger and I’m only seventeen
{Chorus}
We need to fill the smokehouse, winter’s comin’ on
I know it isn’t easy since Mom and Dad been gone
We will keep on growin’, two branches of the tree
‘Cause hard times are relative when it comes to family
With country, folk, rock and then some, Hard Times Are Relative encompasses a little bit of everything. “Do You Remember When” is a classic country ballad with plenty of swaying steel guitar and reminiscing a simpler time before “tourist traps and shopping malls.” Perfect banjo picking and fiddle playing merges with rock ‘n roll Pink Floyd-esque electric guitar in “Grandfather’s Theme” and while albeit dark in its lyrics, the upbeat “Dee Dee OD’ed” (Go go-go dancers, find a reason to believe / Three of them died of cancer, and Dee-Dee OD’ed) has a catchy 80s rock meets punk feel. The final track “Bulbs” shows off Boland’s soulful vocals, evocative of Chris Stapleton.
There are many out there who feel that the genre of country music is headed in the wrong direction, bringing in too many outside genres and ignoring the roots that made country music, well, country music. If you feel that way, may your faith be restored when you listen to this album. While Boland and The Stragglers do sample a little bit here and there from outside the realm, its core remains true country. As it should be.
For more information on Jason Boland and The Stragglers, visit their website at: www.thestragglers.com
Hard Times Are Relative is available for purchase and stream.
Hard Times Are Relative Track Listing:
1. I Don’t Deserve You (feat. Sunny Sweeney)
2. Hard Times Are Relative
3. Right Where I Began
4. Searching for You
5. Do You Remember When
6. Dee Dee OD’d
7. Going, Going, Gone
8. Tattoo of a Bruise
9. Predestined
10. Grandfather’s Theme
11. Bulbs