Ward Hayden & The Outliers, Can’t Judge a Book Review

Country

Ward Hayden & The Outliers, Can’t Judge a Book Review

ward-hayden-staccatofy-cd

Connect with Ward Hayden & The Outliers: Facebook |

Ward Hayden & The Outliers are releasing their seven-song album titled, Can’t Judge a Book. The album marks the band’s name change from Girls Guns & Glory to Ward Hayden & The Outliers. Can’t Judge a Book features songs by Nick Lowe, Chuck Berry, Fountains of Wayne and tunes made famous by Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and Elvis Costello. The band decided to return to their roots with a cover album with each band member choosing songs having meaning to them. Hayden reflects that the name change, “Which is also why we’ve always considered that being a cowboy is a state of mind. And to continue adhering to The Cowboy Code we want to represent our band with a name that will describe who we are more accurately. Things have changed in the 12 years since naming the band. We have always considered ourselves outliers in the world of country music. We continue to have the same mission we’ve always had: to make heartfelt country music and rock ‘n’ roll, to connect with fans through shared experiences in venues and through recordings, and to continue moving forward, living life in search of the moments worth singing about.” The hard-touring, Boston-based band features Paul Dilley on upright/electric bass, Josh Kiggans on drums and Cody Nilsen on lead guitar/pedal steel.

amazon

Positives:

Solid playing and singing by a band that has a unified sound.

Bottom Line:

Can’t Judge a Book is seven tunes that build upon the originals in creative ways. Fountains of Wayne’s “Hackensack” opens the album. The tune gives Hayden the opportunity to bring a little more of a country twang to the melody than the original. “Can’t Stop a Train” finds Hayden channeling a little Buck Owens and Don Rich to augment his sound. Nilsen turns in a fine solo on this one. “The Ballad of Ira Hayes” is pretty much a straightforward Johny Cash cover, but the band has a vibe and there is some nice playing by Nilsen on the pedal steel. Overall, Can’t Judge a Book is an enjoyable collection of cover tunes done by a band that has their own sound. Nothing is over done here, just a solid set of music that Country music lovers will easily know and relate to and get to know Ward Hayden & The Outliers. That’s the short of it!

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.