Well my emusic downloads refreshed the other day and I have been checking the new stuff they’ve added in the last month. It seems that they’ve added a lot of new stuff from Rounder Records so a lot of new folk albums. So did I download any of thing from Rounder? No I did not. I download three albums: Max Stalling’s new album Home To You, Michael Cleveland’s album Flamethrower from 2002 and Bob Corritore and Friends album Harmonica Blues. I’ve been a Max Stalling fan for a while and have four albums in my collection. The first and probably my favorite is Wide Afternoon. I just listened to Michael Cleveland’s music for the first time last month and Bob Corritore’s album has been on the Roots Music Report for the last several weeks and I took a chance mainly because I really do like harmonica blues!
Max Stalling is a gifted singer songwriter from Crystal City, Texas and currently calls Dallas home. Max didn’t start out to be a musician. He didn’t even pick up a guitar until after graduate school at Texas A&M where he earned a Masters in Food Science. He went on to work for Frito Lay. From his website:
Then, while listening to Dallas community radio station KNON, Max discovered a whole new chapter in his life. Townes Van Zandt, Robert Earl Keen, Guy Clark, Lyle Lovett, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Rodney Crowell, Jerry Jeff Walker – singer/songwriters representing a musical heritage to which he had been nearly oblivious. Soon he discovered the emerging Dallas music scene at the Three Teardrops Tavern, a now defunct, but very central part of the Dallas and North Texas country music scene through the mid-90s. “I guess the 3Ts is where I must have stepped on a rusty guitar string and gotten infected with the music biz bug,” says Stalling.
And me and a lot of fans are glad he did! I’ve just listened to the new album a couple of times but just on first listen I think it just may be his best collection of songs ever. The album was produced by one of my favorites Lloyd Maines. As usual I like all the songs but a couple more than others. “I Ain’t Drinking Alone”, “6×9 Speakers Revisited” and “Fantasy Dinner” where Einstein, Elvis and Carmen Miranda get together a fun song! Throughout the album Stalling’s great songwriting shines through!
Michael Cleveland’s album Flamethrower 
was the soundtrack of my six mile rum tonight and unfortunately is about only forty some minutes long out of a fifty-seven minute run and a thought I could start it over again but alas could not but while it was on I was enjoying some great picking. Michael’s fiddle playing is just great and that may be why he’s won the IBMA fiddle player of the year for like the last nine years!
I’ve only listened to Bob Corritore’s album Harmonica Blues onc, but what I’ve heard I’ve liked. I’ll listen some more and write about it later in the week!
Here’s Max from his Live at the Granada
DVD which is available at Lone Star Musicin case you want to check it out!