In House #1725: Wayne Hancock's Tulsa; New Bobby Bare Jr., Jerry Lee Lewis

While there may be a handful of country swing revivalists around these days, few have done it as well for as long as Austin, TX-based artist Wayne "The Train" Hancock. To be more precise, it's not just country swing Hancock's reviving, but a tasty hybrid that also includes elements of honky tonk, blues, rockabilly, and jazz-- a blend his label has termed "juke joint swing." Released last week on Bloodshot, Tulsa is the first studio album in five years from Hancock, and his fifth overall. The life-on-the-road-themed release takes things from Texas to Tulsa and back home again, along the way capturing the spirit of the old Route 66, complete with its dusty desert straightaways, smokey diners, and cheap motels. Hancock's double-edged highway is both exhilarating ("Highway Bound," "Gonna Be Flyin' Tonight") and lonesome ("Drinkin' Blues," "This Lonely Night"), and he's able to paint an authentic picture of each, likely because he leads a touring life that is no stranger to either. There are once again nods to jazz and big band music here, particularly on the title track, as wind instruments blare solos between Hancock's personnel call-outs. It's this marriage of jazz and country that has led some to label Hancock "equal parts Art Blakey and Bob Wills." Elsewhere, he goes back to his Texas roots on honky-tonkers like "Goin' to Texas When I'm Through," and the self portrait "Shootin' Star From Texas." In short, it's nothing we haven't come to expect from Wayne "The Train"-- and thank god for that.

Wayne Hancock

In House #1725.
Airdate: 10/16/06
Focus: New release from Wayne "The Train" Hancock, Tulsa, plus new material from Jerry Lee Lewis, Bobby Bare Jr., Robbie Fulks, and more.

BONUS MP3-
Wayne Hancock, from Tulsa: "Shootin' Star From Texas" (MP3)


PLAYLIST

In House PODCAST #190