Don Gallardo: Hickory

Nashville country singer Don Gallardo took the long way home to get some well deserved recognition in the USA. His latest album Hickory was embraced by the folks of UK label Clubhouse Records in 2015 before getting a Stateside release. He is the kind of artist that sounds familiar after hearing him sing for just a few lines. Backed by seasoned A-list sidemen ((Mickey Raphael, Rob Ickes, Randall Bramblett, Guthrie Trapp, Micah Hulscher and Brad Pemberton) he could focus on his vocals and playing a bit of guitar. Don Gallardo is a natural story teller, who can write about heartbreak or tell the tale of a couple of lovers/bank robbers who get into trouble after they have shot down a sheriff during one of their heists in The North Dakota Blues.

Gallardo is a traditionalist, sounding like a mellower and unpolitical version of Steve Earle. He is a serious, self-conscious entertainer with a soft post for The Band and Levon Helm in paricular - he is honoured with Ophelia, We Cry.

Hickory touches all the bases, before he brings it home with Pearl, a slow song with a glorious slide guitar and old school organ. Gallardo takes his time to get to the core of a couple that can't help caring for each other despite their decidedly different outlooks on life. Is it autobiographical? Could be, but he makes it universal.