The County Well review…May 24, 2018….

THE COUNTY WELL

FUTURE COUNTRY

FLOATING RECORDS

WHISKEY BEFORE NOON–MEZZANINE–MRS. SOUL–BABY–SHIP YOU CAN’T STEER–LIGHT–ALABAMA–EXTRA HEAVY–EMPTY HALL–HOLLYWOOD–SUBTLE AND SERENE

The County Well is the collaborative artistic effort of some of the best musicians and composers associated with the Marin County and Northern California region.  For their album, “Future Country,” co-producer and guitarist Don Zimmer stated that the goal of the album was to connect both local and traveling musicians in the studio, creating a loose, jam-friendly atmosphere that carried over into the songs.  Graham Guest, of Houston band Moses Guest, collaborated with Zimmer on all the songwriting, and the cuts are as varied, (and as much fun!) as the myriad of players that appear here.

Leading off, we have Michael Blumenstein on vocals and guitar on a Zimmer-penned cut, pondering the musical question, is “Whiskey Before Noon” a good idea?  It’s punctuated by fiddle and backing vocals from Alyssa Joy Claffey.  “Mrs. Soul” features Don and Graham on guitars, with Graham’s soulful vocals and flute from Eric Yates giving this one a good ole Dead vibe.  Our favorite, “Empty Hall,” recounts the tale of a young mother in Oregon, with her son lamenting that, from her, he learned “nothin’, ‘cept nothin’ at all,” with pedal steel from Joel Jaffee.

The premise behind “Future Country” was, first of all, to have some fun experimenting with different sounds and textures. and, in the spirit of The County Well, the artists involved wanted to grow and cultivate the talents of the varied musicians working with the project.  As for the material itself, the band members said it best–it’s subtle and serene, and whatever lies between!  Until next time..Sheryl and Don Crow, The Nashville Blues Society.