First appeared in the August issue, Buddy Magazine

Randall Gartman, Jesus, Independent

“I Found Jesus” is perhaps the strongest song on this project. It’s a Texas thing, a southern thing, about going back to Mexico and hard times and tough breaks and meeting new friends and saving lives. It’s a fable, comparing the name and recorded actions of Jesus Christ with a stranger the character in the song befriends, who bears the Spanish pronunciation of the same name (Hey-soos). And about how the character was helped after meeting the Mexican Jesus.

“Alligator Crawl” gives “I Found Jesus” a strong run for the honor of being the best song.

The 8-song CD (OK, there’s a hidden track on it, also, so it’s a 9-track CD) was two years in the making, with Gartman preferring to get it completely right rather than fast. He succeeded. It’s a mix of who’s who in North Texas musicians, with accompaniment help from Mark LaFon, Dustin Hendricks, the late Kevin Clark, who was also Gartman’s best friends and co-writer on “The Killing Floor,” and others on drums, guitar, fiddle, keyboards, banjo, steel, and saxophone, harmonica, and didgeridoo. Vocal help— (not that Gartman needs any help along that line, these vocals are more co-vocals and harmonies — from Jeff Hopson, Justin Till, Chris Romain, Clark, and several others. And it was also recorded by the Texas Regional Radio Report’s award winning producer, Dustin Hendricks in WarRoom Studios.

“Jesus” is available on Gartman’s Website, RandallGartman.com, and on ITunes and Amazon.

Pat Green, Home, Independent/Thirty Tigers

Welcome home, Pat Green. After several years signed up in the bigger leagues, Pat Green has returned with this album and with his life in general, home. As lines in the title song “Home” say, “There comes a time in every man’s life he finds himself staring in the mirror, asking God for help…. I was ready to take on the world… I finally found my way home.”

This CD, due to be released August 14, features one song that’s already received considerable airplay, “Girls From Texas,” a duet with Lyle Lovett. The second release, the Zane Williams-penned “While I Was Away,” is already making its way through the national radio stations. And there’s a few other of the 13 songs that could reach ‘release’ status, such as the bluesy “Bet Yo Mama,” or the poignant “I’ll Take This House,” which he co-wrote with Liz Rose and Walt Wilkins.

He’s got Lyle Lovett, Sheryl Crow, Delbert McClinton, Lee Roy Parnell, Chris Stapleton and others of the ilk adding their talents alongside his.

If one needs a word or two to define this new CD, maybe they would be “produced grit” or “smooth raw gravel.” While there is some classy production to some songs, including the title cut, the record never fails to showcase Green’s completely pure, rich voice. And he comes back to his Texas pure unprocessed genius on “No One Here But Us.”

“While I Was Away” is already available on ITunes as a single purchase.

Yep, Pat Green has come home!