'Cow Hear This'

Brings Together Best in Texas Music

Jacob Tucker, feature editor

Texas has always been a place that has given birth to many great musical artists. 

From Janis Joplin to Buddy Holley to Mike Jones, the great state has almost every genre covered.

The new independent music label CBUJ has monitored what has been called the Texas Country and Red Dirt music scene for the past few years.  They have pulled together many of the top artists of these “new” genres to make the album COW Hear This!

This album is a spin-off of the popular NOW and WOW compilations, but this is strictly for this genre of music.

This “new” genre of music has a different sound to it.  It should not be confused with its Nashville country counterparts.  These artists prefer to sing songs about love, good times and bad things, as well as give Nashville the bird every now and then.

The newest release from the label has been the third installment to the COW family.  This album was released on March 14, and features artists such as Robert Earl Keen, Willie Nelson, Stoney LaRue, Gary P. Nunn, and The Great Divide, among others.

Many of the musicians featured on this album began their careers like some SPC students.  They performed in bars and “honky-tonks,” peddling their homemade CDs to anyone who was willing to listen. 

The first single that was released from this album was Willie Nelson’s version of Patsy Cline’s song “Crazy.”  That was the song that pushed Willie into the spotlight, and a personal favorite of mine.  More favorites from the album will come from Stoney LaRue and The Eli Young Band.  LaRue’s voice and style is very reminiscent of Willie Nelson.  The lyrics of his song “Walk Away” describe a guy who receives a little more attention from a woman than he is used to and he wants to know why, but she just walks away (hence the name of the song.)  The Eli Young Band is a huge favorite in the Metroplex area and has a small fan base here.  Their single “Small Town Kid” describes small-town life perfectly.

Many of the songs featured on the album have been released and played on radio stations in Dallas, Fort Worth, and Houston.  It would surprise me that when you pick the CD up you don’t know half of the artists featured.  If you have not heard of Gary P. Nunn by now, you need to crawl out from under the rock you have been living under for the past decade.

This CD is the perfect collection for the country music lover.  It has just enough sound of older country music, with a splash of a younger generation of musicians. 

Overall, give this CD four out of five stars.  These songs are great examples of the new “organic” music coming from our great state.  I have yet to purchase the first two COW albums, but I am sure that this one will not be a disappointment for any country music lover.