Showing posts with label Brother Dege. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brother Dege. Show all posts

Saturday, July 21, 2018

#343 : Brother Dege - Farmer's Almanac



2018 – Psyouthern.Records
Release Date: June 1, 2018


By Phillip Smith; July 21, 2018


Farmer’s Almanac, the fourth full-length album from Louisiana native, Brother Dege Legg, is somewhat of a masterpiece.  Its eleven original tracks are slathered with attention-grabbing slide guitar, and razor-sharp lyrics.  Backing Brother Dege is The Bretheren, comprised of Kent Beatty on bass, and drummers Greg Travasos and Doug Belote.   

A surge of excitement traverses through “Country Come to Town”.  Dege’s magnificent finger picking shines while Travasos provides a steady heartbeat-like pulse.  Layers of instrumentation provide an enhanced sense of depth in “The Shakedown”.  The country blues slide and backdrop of dual drums makes this an amazing listen.      

The stories Legg tells with his songs are fantastic.  Outlaw blues ballad “Bastards Blues” is tension-filled and swampy.  Guest drummers Hawley Joe Gary (Spank the Monkey) and Eric Heigle (The Lost Bayou Ramblers) join drummer Doug Belote to help create the ominous atmosphere the song resides in.  Tightly woven prose and a beautiful hypnotic rhythm keep “The Moon & the Scarecrow” gingerly afloat as it softly builds to its climatic peak.    

The album is book-ended by a pair of Pink Floyd-esque instrumentals, “Partial to the Bitters” and “Partial to the Bitters Pt. 2”.   The later, a bit more infused with twang, sounds just as brilliant, nonetheless.  Farmer’s Almanac receives my highest possible recommendation.  It’s that great. 

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