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.
