With the dry weather in the Midwest, the reports are in that the harvest is coming in with great totals and at an impressive pace. And I’m sure there are a lot of Massy Ferguson’s working out there, and maybe, just maybe, some of those harvesters are listening to the hard working band of the same name.
Hailing from Seattle, Massy Ferguson (the band) plays a workbench version of AltCountry, steeped in the soil of Son Volt/Jay Farrar, the Bottle Rockets, and perhaps a little Drivin’ ‘n’ Cryin’. Hard Water starts up the engine with the uptempo “Long Time No See” before warbling on over to the harmonica/slide guitar drenched “Pretty Plain Jane.” There’s a slowhand, bluesy backbeat feel to the Country of “Wenatchee Eyes.” An Old 97’s type stompdown kicks up the dust for “Sparks and Shrapnel,” which carries some of the best guitar lines here. James McMurtry’s touch shows up on the dark ballad “Freedom County” and the driving beat of the storytelling “Idle Threats and Cigarettes.”
Fire up that tractor, head across the fields, and let Massy Ferguson be your guide towards that harvest moon.
Massy Ferguson
Spark & Shine Records
