Gabe Lee: The Hometown Kid
So… Who is ready for another Gabe Lee album? Yeah… me too!
Photo by Brooke Stevens
It's been a LONG two years since Gabe’s epic 2020 release Honky Tonk Hell. While 2020 was a dumpster fire of a year for most of us, for new music it was a killer year and a year of stiff competition with the likes of Sturgill Simpson’s Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1, American Aquarium’s Lamentations and Lori McKenna’s The Balladeer. So, for a relatively newer artist like Gabe Lee to have a sophomore album Honky Tonk Hell get listed by numerous sources, Rolling Stone, Whiskey Riff and vlogger, Grady Smith, just to name a few, as one of, if not, the best albums of the year was no small feat! This set a HIGH bar for this, his next work.
Hometown Kid delivers the goods! And not resting on his laurels, Gabe Lee created an album that, while similar in style, is sonically different from his two previous works. He still has retained his same edge in his writing. The new album is just not as “in your face” as his last. He has added some musical dimensions and profiles to Hometown Kid that I wouldn’t have thought would work for an album and artist like this. But, in my opinion, they work well.
Hometown Kid has twelve brand spankin’ new, original, tasty, tracks:
Wide Open
Over you
Lucky Stars
Buffalo Road
Rusty
Kinda Man
Lonely
One of These Days
Longer I Run - Hammer Down
Never Rained Again
Long Gone
Angel Band
The opening track, “Wide Open,” has an open, airy and free feel to it thanks to his use of keyboards and reverb. The song feels both hopeful and wistful all at the same time. Sort of, “Yeah, you can go home, but you really can’t ever go home again.”
“Over You” starts with a bluesy/boozy riff that embodies the essence of the song, the long alcohol fueled road of getting over a lost love. In this song, Gabe uses some of his trademark, cool vocal rasp when pushing for some emphasis just before the first chorus.
Down the long abandoned road she winds / kickin’ dust in my eyes
And the rain has all run out / Still my faith ain’t come around
There’s only fire and thunder burnin’ now / And I had a hell of a time,
getting over you
My favorite track of the album, by far, is “Kinda Man.” It has great energy. The song has a driving beat with an airy guitar riff embellishment. The lyrics are as fun as the music. He starts by singing about how a buddy sent him an old photograph and the memories that it brought back. It reminds me of when you catch up with old friends and start reliving our glory days with significant embellishment. Making us all sound far cooler than we actually were.
I’d be two feet taller and twice as stronger / all pound for pound, lightnin’ and thunder / Double block engine on a summer night / full force comin’ ‘round the bend, Kinda Man
The song finally returns you back to real life, but this time with a smile on your face.
“Longer I Run” was a big surprise. This is why I said that this album has some added musical profiles that I wouldn’t have expected. This song has a Mac Davis-esq/1970’s feel to it with the use of horns, strings and background singers. Again, I wouldn’t have thought that this would have worked in this album, but man, it works well, VERY well!
“Never Rained Again” is where Gabe slows it down and brings in a more traditional country sound with acoustic guitar, fiddle, piano and a sweet, crying pedal steel.
At the end, Gabe gets his gospel on with “Angel Band.” A fairly bluesy acoustic song. It's a full band piece with guitar, piano, fiddle, drums and pedal steel with some basic choral arrangements for the chorus where Gabe asks,
Won’t you put me in the Honky Tonk Angel Band / Won’t you put me in the Honky Tonk Angel Band / String up my sins across this old guitar in my hand and put me in the Honky Tonk Angel Band
It's because of this track, I like to say that the whole work runs the gamut from Saturday night to Sunday morning.
On balance, this whole album is fun and introspective. Gabe has worked his magic again and like a true artist, he has created something akin to his previous works, yet different and individual enough to stand on its own. I found that this new album can’t be fully appreciated until you have listened to it a few times. Everytime, I find something new. Either in it or in myself.
Now quit sittin’ around and go get yourself a copy!
Find out more about Gabe Lee below: