The Rain
Sol, 2021
9/10
You might not be familiar with the name Dallas Moore, but after listening to The Rain you certainly won’t forget it as the outlaw country virtuoso returns after not writing a song for two years.
“The Rain” starts the listen with both grit and melody as plenty of twang enters the powerful country anthem, and “Every Night I Burn Another Honky Tonk Down” follows with honky tonk spirit as upbeat and warm instrumentation meet a playful approach where Moore’s strong pipes are complemented by fiddle acrobatics.
Closer to the middle, “Locked Down & Loaded” is a calmer moment, where much beauty resonates amid his outlaw country approach, while “Ride Down By The River”, one of the album’s best, recruits strategic pedal steel amid the harmonic singing and a lush climate of flowing rural rock. “California Highway”, another exceptional tune, then displays acoustic guitar acrobatics as Moore’s welcoming pipes emit much grace in the rootsy delivery.
The final two tracks, “On Through The Night” and “In My Last Days”, don’t disappoint either, where the former could soundtrack a barnyard dance with its contagious energy, and the latter exits with a dreamy ambience as strings add much to the eloquence of the moving ballad.
Moore was sidelined from touring due to Covid, and he tapped into a creative phase where this entire album poured out in 3 weeks. With his dream team band present consisting of Chuck Morpurgo, Tim Galloway, Guthrie Trapp, Jenee Fleenor, Chad Cromwell, Steve Hinson, Gordon Mote, Lex Price, Sweepy Walker, and Perry Coleman, Moore offers a career highlight and certainly one of the best records of the year in the area of honky tonk, country, Americana and roots sounds.
Travels well with: James Carothers- Still Country, Still King: A Tribute To George Jones; Jesse Dayton- The Outsider