How do you make a Wild Earp record? Take a honky tonk band, drench it in Tequila, put nine people on stage, have a revolving host of talented writers and a charismatic frontman. That’s a start. I had the opportunity to catch up with Wild Earp himself, a Chicago-based musician who has previously released some material in more of a solo fashion, and is now getting the posse together to bring some depth to the songs that define him and the Free For Alls.
When I heard the first track, it felt like line dancing on mescal--trippy, fun, loud, smiling. The album is packed with that kind of energy: it makes you want to move, has deep hooks, and doesn't take itself too seriously, but it is art. The kind of art that only a thoughtful artist can make. It pays respect to the albums and artists that paved the way with a degree of showmanship that’s often lacking in the current landscape of toned-down Americana.
From the opening beat of “Ain’t It a Shame (When Your Horse Goes Lame),” you immediately know this isn’t going to be a single man and an acoustic guitar telling you why the world should be more serious. But that doesn’t mean that Earp and the Free For Alls, who contributed tracks, have nothing to say. Kiley “Sweet Sassy Molassey" More offering her first writing effort for the band with “Smile Like That,” proves the writing talent of the band isn’t isolated to its front man, nor is the vocal talent. This album feels like what a wife picks up on her wedding day: something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. It’s eclectic and full of surprises, and manages to not get too wrapped up in a formulaic nostalgia, even though the record is clearly influenced by musicians that wrote within eras passed.
