Jarrod Dickenson - Ready the Horses

****

The Traditional Country / Blues sound of riding horses!!!

When you are a singer songwriter from the Lone star state, you grow up to learn that storytelling is something of a Texas tradition. And the tall hat wearing Prince Harry lookalike Jarrod Dickenson, can sure tell a good story. Since I saw Jarrod Dickenson supporting The White Buffalo, the UK has become a place ready to hear Jarrod's storytelling and Country twang. When I saw him on that tour, you could see from the start to finish of his set that he was a great songwriter that was going to go places. 

He has already played the Glastonbury and Larmer Tree festival's to a standing ovations, along with great sets supporting Bonnie Ratt, Don Mclean, The Waterboys, Jools Holland and as I said before The White Buffalo. Jarrod's debut album 'The Lonesome Traveler' received critical acclaim, along with subsequent EP 'Songs from Willow St'. But I really think it's 'Ready the Horses' that will take him to the next level.This album is also his first on the classic label Decca Records, who he really caught the attention of this year. 

Jarrod with his Southern twang and sharp dressed hipster style suits, from opening track 'Faint of Heart', brings you into his World of the old times and a time that none of us lived through. But he seemed to have captured in his songs, maybe he embraced the music he heard as a kid to get his very traditional sound. This old time sound that mixes traditional Blues / Country and Soul, it's nothing new... it is the Southern sound of the wild west. You really feel it is like an old friend, coming back to join you in an old Western saloon. 

I really like the acoustic sound on 'Take it from Me', and the story telling on 'Your heart belongs to Me' and 'In the Meantime' is like nothing else. We seemed to have lost the art of storytelling in songs in the last ten years and that is something that Jarrod really brings back. His new single 'California' has to be my favourite on the album, he mixes his traditional sound with the modern Country sound and it's just so beautiful so is a real highlight on the record.

But for a lot of people I think the highlight of the album would be the track 'A cowboy and the Moon', which I know is already a live favourite to a lot of Country fans. He even did a special performance of this for the Country 2 Country festival. If you like traditional Country and Blues you will absolutely love this album it is an instant classic that sounds like it was recorded years ago.

Review by Dan Devour 

Check Out! the Video for 'California' Below...