Initially Line Up Some Country can seem understated, modest even. Then, when you're least expecting- it's authenticity and spellbinding storytelling hits you like a steam train. The Rick Rubin-ised vocals are just where I like them, upfront, not dry, nor drenched in reverb. Dave's sympathetic, ego-free guitar playing is exactly right throughout all 6 songs.

This is evidenced on The Maggie Clark Medicine Show, a comedy morality tale of bribery, corruption and ruthless. Acts a person might get up to in times of austerity. From the snake oil saleswoman to the customer to law enforcement, everyone's complicit.

Even though I'm fairly convinced there's no-one waiting on the other side, this heathen's lack of belief doesn't crash the lovely Long Black Train. Scotty Moore, Chet Atkins and Carl Perkins ain't coming back either but their spirit and tradition is present on the shuffle and pluck of this righteous addition to the train song lineage

Beyond The Tennessee Line whilst displaying good cheer and optimism is also at heart a song dealing with the weighty subject of death. Evoking songs and tunes left behind that can take us to a ‘blue moon, a cabin in the pines’ when the world is weighing heavily.

The rolling stone lifestyle and outlook of rail riders is explored on In The Morning. The tone of acceptance of the uncertainties and lack of secure relationships experienced by the box car riders is well conveyed.

The shining jewel is Dark Valley a tale of the human cost of worker exploitation is rich in concise powerful imagery, as an optimistic man ‘with the smell of sadness on his skin’ crosses the border to follow a work opportunity, only to find his rights signed away on a minimum wage and a no union card contract with a ruthless employer of immigrant labour. As he dreams of dancing ‘on Diez y Seis beneath a warm September sky,’ listeners will find themselves really rooting for this guy and his family. Sandie's crackling vibrato brings understated emotion, buoyed along by Dave's tasteful playing, recalling Nashville session guitarist Wayne Moss in a D minor ballad reminiscent and worthy of Lee Hazlewood in his prime.

Line Up Some Country invites you ‘when the sky is dark and the night is calling’ to get out those country, rhythm and blues sounds we love. As seductive as this offer is, you might be inclined to just cover all bases by starting again at track 1 of this beautifully sequenced and brilliantly executed collection. DAVEY BLACKIE