CD Review — Cody Shaw & The Rhythm Boys
By Mary Jane Farmer
“Lonesome” — Cody Shaw & The Rhythm Boys, Self-release
EPs, sometimes called a “Nashville handshake,” are more in mode today than ever before. “Lonesome” features five new songs of varied beats and backgrounds, and together they offer a clear picture of what Cody Shaw & The Rhythm Boys bring to every live show
Ben and Cody Shaw
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It’s a Jimmie Rodgers-style near-yodel that opens the project, “I’m To Blame,” and that grabs the listener immediately. Friend of the band Ben Atkins wrote that song, as he did the second song, “Walk On,” a ditty about breaking up with a clean split, at least on one side of the failed romance. Then Shaw sings one of the two songs he penned, “Only Friend,” again a reality song about past friends who just haven’t hung around, and “the only friend who’ll stick his neck out for me is the bottle.” Shaw also wrote “Rumspringa,” which features guests players on dobro, banjo, mandolin, and old-fashioned hand-clapping. His dad, ben Shaw, wrote the fifth song, “I’m Lonesome,” and his mom adds some harmonies to it, along with Ben’s guitar and banjo licks and pianist Nick Ghanbari’s keyboards and Atkins’ additional electric guitar.
It’s a first-effort for this band, but it’s the third incarnation of “The Rhythm Boys,” the named used by Cody’s grandfather’s band and then his father, Ben’s, band before this group picked it up. Rounding out the band are Chris Booth on bass guitar and his cousin, Randy Burch, on drums.
This album is available at The Rhythm Boys’ gigs, or for download on ITunes, Amazon, Spotify, Rhapsody, and “all the usual places you can think of,” Ghanbari explained.
Category: - CD Reviews
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In the music production business, including event production, booking, photography, reporting, and other such essentials, since 1980.Subscribe
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