New and Notable: Hill Country Revue

Formed by North Mississippi Allstars members Cody Dickinson and Chris Chew, and featuring Daniel Coburn of Dixie Hustler along with several other well-known Memphis musicians, Hill Country Revue is a soulful blues-rock group that just released their first album today - Make a Move. The recipe here is fairly simple, and often familiar, but it produces some solid results. The boys use their collective musical chops to create hard-hitting rock 'n' roll with copious amounts of fiery guitar solos and some spectacular work on the rhythm section that makes the ten tracks of their debut an exciting blues record that should satisfy enthusiasts of the genre.

Explosive opener "Alice Mae," the impassioned "Let Me Love You," and the raw, gripping "Ramblin'" are good examples of the band at their best, churning out crunchy riffs and spectacular solos in between soulfully-delivered vocals. Though the album is relatively long (45 minutes) for ten songs, the group keeps their jam band tendencies to a minimum here, only showing those colors on a couple tunes, including the lengthy, solo-heavy closer "Growing Up In Mississippi." It's quite obvious this isn't the first go 'round for the boys, and while there's not much to really 'explore' on Make a Move, there's plenty to enjoy.

For a taste, head to my previous post to download "Alice Mae," or find more at the band's MySpace page.