If you’re looking for an album that is fun, lighthearted, and reminiscent of the good old days of 90s country, then you’ll need to get yourselves acquainted with The Piedmont Boys, who hail from Greenville, South Carolina. There’s no clap tracks or lyrics about back roads to be found on their newest record, Almost Home, and that’s just how they like it. What you will find is original, honky-tonk music, with some fiddle and accordion thrown in for good measure. The eleven tracks on the album are made up of mostly fast-paced, toe-tapping, fun songs, save for a couple more serious, slowed-down tracks that help bring balance to the album.

The Piedmont Boys have been making music together for over a decade and are made up of Greg Payne on vocals and guitar, Matt Parks on fiddle and vocals, Stuart McConnel on lead guitar and vocals, Tony Pilot on drums and Mike Johnson on bass and vocals. Although the boys hail from South Carolina, at times I had to question if they weren’t really more in line with the music coming out of Texas. The dance-hall worthy tracks, the zydeco tinged, “Boomerang” and excellent fiddle-playing by Matt throughout the album, all lend it a bit of Texas flair.

First track on the album is “Rice Beans” and is an excellent introduction to the music you can expect from The Piedmont Boys. Broken hearts in country music call for booze and George Jones and the boys put their own twist on surviving a breakup.

“We’ve been living on rice and beans, cocaine and cheap whiskey. She thinks about me all the time, but she don’t miss me”

When the fiddle comes in, you can’t help but want to get up and dance. Partner is optional.

The longest song on Almost Home, “Wrong Turns,” might be my favorite track off the album. It hooks you from the beginning with a thumping beat and this line:

“At a bar outside of Charleston, I was drinking one more”

It goes on to chronicle a wrong turn and a chance encounter at a bar, the ups and downs that come with touring, the good and bad times, and a lot of stories you probably wouldn’t believe. If there was a song about going on tour with The Piedmont Boys, I feel like this would be the one. The fiddle playing within the song is fantastic and really adds to the overall mood of the track. The instrumental outro was a fun surprise, different enough that I had to stop and see if I’d gone to another track or if it was part of “Wrong Turns.”

“In Came You” is one of the previously mentioned slower songs on the album, and feels like the perfect song to two-step to. Booze, women and sinning aren’t new subjects in music, particularly in this genre, but it’s a sweet song about turning your life around after meeting someone worth the effort. Yet again, the fiddle playing shines in this particular track.

Last, but not least, give “Stoned” a listen. It sounds like Whiskey Myers and Marshall Tucker Band collaborated and this was the result. Like many of the other tracks, it’s fast-paced, but irony lies in the fact that the lyrics are those of a man who just wants to get “stoned” and slow down, not feel, and forget about his problems, while only letting himself reflect on his music.

The Piedmont Boys' new album is worth a spin or ten. Especially if this year has been a tough one for you and you’re looking for some music that you can sit back and enjoy and not have to pause and think about what the artist is trying to tell you in the song. It doesn’t mean this album is shallow, far from it, but it’s an album to dance to, to drink to and to decompress to.

You can find out more about The Piedmont Boys here: