I am a sucker for alt-country, or americana, or roots-rock, or whatever you want to call it. I'm not a huge fan of country music (a la Dierks Bentley or Tim McGraw), but I love the little twang that alt-country offers. I like the stories that are told in the songs, I like the use of slide guitars and harmonicas, and I love the variety of styles from rockin out, to reflective, to downright sad.
In late 2006, a song was released by Dustin Kensrue called 'I Knew You Before', and I immediately dug it. The song has a somewhat western feel to it with drums that resemble a train going west, country slide-guitar riffs, and some bite in Kensrue's voice. I heard that Dustin Kensrue's full cd, Please Come Home, was to be released in early 2007...and needless to say I was pretty excited.
Please Come Home is a short but sweet 8 tracks full of alt-country love. At times Kensrue seems like he is trying to stretch his voice a little too far (he is also the lead singer of post-hardcore/rock band Thrice), at times there is some instrumentation that I could do without, and at times the lyrics are a little sappy...but all of these drawbacks come in minor doses. Overall, I really like the cd. Kensrue shows his versatility through more up-tempo somgs like 'I Knew You Before', almost true country tunes like 'I Believe', and ballads like 'Consider the Ravens'. One of the tracks that I have posted is probably the song I have listened to the most this year...'Please Come Home'. Alec pointed out that it could almost be a 90's hit from the likes of the Goo Goo Dolls, but I think that Kensrue makes it his own, and really draws you in once he sings "And you hit the town/and you hit the bottle hard" with the whole band backing him up.
Give the cd a shot....maybe you'll get addicted to alt-country as well.
Dustin Kensrue - I Knew You Before
Dustin Kensrue - Please Come Home
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