Hey kids!  I just have to tell you about this West Texas cowboy (Lubbock) who has a great country voice and is making his mark with his own real country music.  I would really be remiss if I didn't share, right?  Cory Dutton is proof that real country music is still alive and well and growing!  I am always excited to find good ole country, western and honky tonk music by a new artist.  It bids promise that the genre will not die any time soon, no matter what Nashville throws at us, as long as Texas stays true to the roots of country music as Cory is doing.

So picture this in your mind first...you're in a West Texas beer joint (that's about all they have in West Texas, but these are true authentic "beer joints").  On stage is a band called Cory Dutton & The Beer Belly Bandits, and they know what kind of music is expected, and they deliver as follows:

Track one is "Eye Of The Beer Holder", written by Cory and Steve Anderson, who pen a funny but totally country song complete with beautiful steel guitar about "beauty lies in the eye of the beer holder", along the same story line as "The Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time" by Mickey Gilley, but they sound nothing alike.  It ends with Cory saying, "I got my beer goggles on."  This is a cool and fun song. 

"Color Me Gone" is the next track, and this title song is one that reaches out and grabs you, both musically and lyrically.  This could be a classic song, one you would have heard in the '70's by George Jones or someone like George.  It's a wonderfully sad song about a break up in a relationship.  Its lyrics are incredible and framed so beautifully within the music.

Track 3 picks up the tempo with "Mood Swings", a swing song that tells a story about a couple who are dealing with her "mood swings" and his "swinging mood".  Great dancing tune with some clever lyrics that have a great hook phrase.  Ahh haa, gotta' swing your partner to this one, folks, it's just solid western swing.

Cory breaks into a ballad with "Soon Ain't Soon Enough" as track 4.  It's a beautiful love song where "soon ain't soon enough" when it comes to being with the one you love.  This is a belly rubbin' (shine your belt buckle) tune...just another wonderfully romantic country love song.

Track 5 is "Single Again", a fast three stepper about what else, being single again.  Great music in this song.

Doesn't almost every Texas country artist have a song or two about Mexico?  Dutton is no different with the next track "Goin' to Mexico", with the chorus line, "to let the wine and tequila flow, I'm gonna'  find a senorita to help me forget about you."

The next track, "Lone Star Beer", which he wrote with his dad, is one of the best songs on this CD..."Just sittin' here drinkin' Lone Star Beer and feelin' no pain."  It's a song that could only be written by a Texas artist (Texans will understand) but can be appreciated no matter where you hang your hat.  But you GOTTA' hear it!

"I'll Just Go" is another sad ballad about a wishy-washy relationship that he is finally tired of dealing with, a tear in your beer song, that's for sure.  But as with all the other songs, great country music backs this strong baritone voice that together sound so perfectly suited to traditional country that no one could call it anything else.

"Sweet Texas Cowgirls" is a fast tune about Texas girls and how they drive the good ol' boys crazy.  This reminds me of something Jerry Lee Lewis would do, with the fast boogie piano and the rockin' tempo.

"If Lubbock Calls", has a Tex-Mex nuance and has a different sound than the other songs on this album that I hadn't put my finger on yet.  It's a song about getting away from home and escaping the routine in Mexico...so "if Lubbock calls, tell them I'm not here" is the theme verse here, and it's ear candy for me.

The CD ends with "Hungover Again", and though it's nothing like Dale Watson's "I Swear I'll Never Drink Again Again", its story is "oh so similar", and every country crooner needs a drinkin' tune or two in their repertoire.

So there you have it, songs about lovin', losin', drinkin' and carousin'.  It's country, it's Texas, and it's Cory Dutton and The Beer Belly Bandits who gave us these great country tunes to add to our music library and dance a step or two.  Crank it up, darlin', it's not quite loud enough yet.

To get your copy, visit www.corydutton.com.  You can listen to samples of the music there as well.  My hat's off to these West Texas cowboys who can serenade a senorita about as well as they can poke a cow, and that ain't no bull!

                                                                                                     Happy Trails,

Written by Lana Hughes, March 19, 2006