Tioga Titan
Self-Released, 2022
8/10
The Louisiana native and current Nashville resident Will Payne Harrison delivers his most emotional album yet, where love and loss are discussed amid pedal steel, fiddle, and warm vocal harmonies across these 10 heartfelt tracks.
“Pretty Little Dancer” starts the listen with playful fiddle, and a swift, rural melody alongside Harrison’s smooth pipes that will immediately get you on the dance floor, and “Goodbye, Sweetheart” follows with a tune of love gone awry that’s dripping in classic country ideas with much warmth.
“The Way” occupies the middle spot, and it’s a particularly intimate moment of poetic and bare song craft, while “Don’t Drink Well Whiskey In The Lonestar State” benefits from spirited guitar and thumping drums in the upbeat roots rocker.
Near to the end, “Broadway Lights”, the album’s best, welcomes gorgeous female vocals to complement the stirring climate, and “Uncle Boudreaux Went To Texas” exits with the aching pedal steel and Harrison’s eloquent singing that emits so much beauty as it builds into textured, dynamic finish.
A listen very much steeped in country ideas, Harrison’s craft is rich with enjoyable Americana, honky tonk and rootsy moments that you’ll want to hear again and again.
Travels well with: Veronica Stanton- Caught Up On A Feeling; Laura Benitez And The Heartache- California Centuries