Texas Beat with Danny White: Unleashed Live
For my first article at Dangerous Bill’s, I have chosen to do music reviews of new music by fellow Texans. I am proud to say that I am a native Texan. My favorite styles of music come from Texas. The CD I have chosen to review is the brand new release from Sony Music's Lucky Dog label, "Unleashed Live." The CD features three of the best alternative country performers out there today: the Robinson Brothers, Bruce and Charlie, and Jack Ingram. The recording happened earlier this year at the legendary Greune Hall, Texas's oldest dance hall in New Braunfels, Texas. The twelve-song format is simple -- four songs by each singer featuring their best-known work from the last couple of years.

The first singer, Bruce Robinson, is a very talented songwriter but to me he never seems to get a rhythm here on this recording. He does a good version of the Joe Dickens penned "The Good Life" from his second CD, "Long Way From Anywhere." He and his older brother Charlie Robinson do a duet "Rayne, Louisiana" where Charlie outshines his brother.

The third song is where Bruce hits his songwriter’s stride with "Angry All the Time," his introspective duet with his wife Kelly Willis. This song is best with just an acoustic guitar and let the biting lyrics do the talking. But here it’s done with the full band like on his first album, "Unwrapped."The set is finished with "Red Letter Day," a song that Bruce wrote and that he and his brother have separate versions of. Robinson and his band are off time on this one, too, and it falls short. Bruce Robinson is best on stage with just he & his guitar. A recent Dallas Morning News review of his Poor David's Pub concert said this recording does not do him or his excellent music justice.

Charlie Robinson was next on the CD and he kicked ass at this concert. The Greune Hall setting is more attuned to his hard, gritty style of country than his brother and the audience responded to him. The song he did first was his best known song, "My Hometown," about the legendary Texas town of Bandera. He and the band warm up on this song and they do a picture perfect version. The song "Sunset Boulevard " comes next. The audience can be heard singing along with him on this one. The song tells the story of a heartbroken man looking for ways to get over her. Charlie took some poetic freedom with this song. He changed the line about "hanging out with Charlie Sheen because if he would hang out with Kado Katlin he would hang out with me." Since Charlie Sheen has detoxed, Robinson replaced him with Monica Lewinsky in the song. Use your imagination about what he wants with her!

The third song is a hard, gritty piece about murder called "Loving County." He (Robinson) does two killings here: he kills the audience with this version along with the wife of Loving County's Sheriff, who was killed for the ring she wore on her finger. The song is not radio worthy because of the subject but is one of the best county songs of the last decade in my opinion.

The last song Charlie did was the catchy "Barlight," that he performed flawlessly with his band. The four songs Charlie Robinson did were all from his "Life Of the Party" recording for Lucky Dog. Robinson's band is very cohesive on tape with the musical lead interchanging of Robert Snell on steel with the tasteful lead guitar of Mike McAdam with added keyboard (sounding like a Hammond D-3) of Chip Dolan. Like I said at first, Charlie kicked ass and took names here.

Last but not least on the CD was Jack Ingram. Jack Ingram has been under respected for too long by those outside of Texas, but he’s making headway with several recordings made during last decade. He chooses his up-tempo songs wisely on this CD. Ingram begins with the spiteful "Mustang Burn." I still wonder if the inspiration came from the true story of Robert Earl Keen's car burning at a Willie Nelson Fourth of July. The photo can be seen on the cover of REK's "Picnic" recording. The song is excellent and the cover of "Picnic" comes to mind when I hear it."Work This Out," written by Ingram and Nashville songwriting legend Jon Lauderdale is next on the CD. This is a beautiful song with a mandolin taking the place of the usual twangy guitar. The song is top forty ready and does not sell out while doing it. The band hits a groove here and carries the song along.

"Travis County" comes next. This was supposed to be Jack Ingram's big break in country music. He appeared in the movie "Hope Floats" singing this song, but Ingram was screwed when he was dropped from the soundtrack for better known musicians. He does a killer version of this song here -- better than in the movie.

The last song by Ingram is the crowd favorite, "Barbie Doll." The song was written by
Ingram and Todd Snider. It’s a sarcastic, biting song about a woman who’s good looking but too much trouble. The audience is with him here and Ingram and the band deliver the goods. The spiteful, barb-riddled song is his best of the set and it shows. It’s the perfect song with which to end the CD.I give this live CD an 8 on a scale of 10 with Bruce Robinson's set holding back the great work of his brother and Ingram on the rest of the CD. If you like your country music raw and unadulterated, I strongly suggest getting this CD. This one is kick ass!

Danny White