Age of the Ram

Prolific Gulf-and-Western troubadour Charley Crockett tries to get inside the head of the archetypal outlaw on <i>Age of the Ram</i>, the final instalment of his Sagebrush Trilogy of albums. Taking inspiration, in part, from the fictional tale of cattle rustler Billy McLane—first imagined by Marty Robbins in his song “Old Red”—Crockett elaborates on his story in characteristically cinematic, desert-hued fashion. As on the previous instalments, Crockett was joined by producer Shooter Jennings to record the project in Los Angeles. In keeping with the Hollywood setting, film reels chug, horses whinny and gunfights blaze while melodies and lyrical ideas recur as soundtrack-style themes, all tied together by Crockett’s unmistakable voice and timeless lyrics. Name-checking iconic American towns and imagery as he does across his catalogue, the singer-songwriter also alludes to the political zeitgeist in broad strokes—more as the backdrop to his hard-luck story than its cause. The songs range from honky-tonk tunes like “My Last Drink of Wine” and “Fastest Gun Alive” to funkier material like “Kentucky Too Long” and “Cover My Trail Tonight” to bare-bones acoustic sketches like “Border Winds” and “Remembering Pat”, still forming just a slice of the full Charley Crockett musical experience. Crockett's sound on <i>Age of the Ram</i> will be familiar to his long-time fans, tapping into the distinctive, conversational, yet a little larger-than-life country style that he’s now honed for years alongside his touring band The Blue Drifters, who join him on this recording. It fits him and them like a well-worn boot, as suited to an intimate Texas dancehall as to the increasingly large festivals and amphitheatres that Crockett plays. He churns out albums at such a frantic pace that one would assume the quality might suffer‚ yet <i>Age of the Ram</i>, like so much of his catalogue, is rock-solid, twangy and cosmopolitan, current and old-school all at the same time.