Country music has many ‘sub-genres’ – country rock is one of
the most developed of these. But even within country rock there are categories:
‘bro country’, for example, is, lyrically and musically, a long way away from
the sort of country rock that tells stories that belong within the country
canon but which are classified rock because they have a different time
signature to other country songs and use a few more guitars.
Bryan Hayes plays country rock of the latter kind. The
Memphis resident tells stories of country lives and country scenes – the second
song, ‘Small Town Amazing Grace’, has the line ‘In a small town, life seems
right’, and Hayes sings it with conviction tinged with weariness, although no
lack of sincerity. It’s a combination of emotions that marks many of the songs
on this album. Perhaps that has to do with Hayes’s own story: he was deployed
to Iraq in 2009 and 2010, which forced him to take a break from music.
Hayes’s songs aren’t rock songs, but they have that
satisfying rock beat (anyone who loves rock music – as I do – will know what I
mean by that and it’s related to how easily one’s head can nod along to a beat).
That makes this album really easy to slip into: toes will tap and heads will
nod before you’re even at the first chorus. What will keep you coming back is
the stories. Some are straightforward, and some are playful, as on the song ‘Our
Love is Like a Tractor Tire’, which has a more traditional honky tonk sound.
This is a well-rounded collection from a singer-songwriter
who has things to say and who can say them articulately and in an entertaining
way without being a lightweight. That’s quite a balance to achieve.
Farther Down the Line is out now through Retriever Records.
Find Bryan Hayes on Facebook.
