Jim Lauderdale and the Dream Players
Honey Songs

The "Dream Players" Jim Lauderdale recruited for this new set of original songs are an impressive bunch. Pioneer rockabilly guitarist James Burton- sideman for Bob Luman, Rick Nelson, Elvis Presley and Emmylou Harris- also enjoyed a distinguished Hollywood studio career. Pianist Glen Hardin and drummer Ronnie Tutt worked with Burton in Presley's band. Al Perkins filled the Flying Burrito Brothers' pedal steel chair when Sneaky Pete Kleinow departed, and Garry Tallent is the E Street Band's original bassist.

Dream players, of course, mean little if the singer and the songs aren't up to the occasion. Not a problem for Lauderdale. The tracked here have a feel similar to his shamefully un-reissued 1991 debut Planet of Love. Following the Waylonesque "Honeysuckle Hornpipe," Lauderdale explores substance abuse and intervention on "Hittin' It Hard," contrasting with the white-knuckle chronicle of romantic loss on "It's Finally Sinking In." While "The Daughter of Majestic Sage" is western fable, social conscience drives "Those Kinds of Things Don't Happen Every Day," with "Molly's Got a Chain" standing as a drama in miniature.

Together, the material is not only satisfying, it leaves a gnawing sense of regret that mainstream Nashville so rarely taps stuff of this caliber, favoring instead the multi-collaborative hackwork of their favored writers. Burton's muscular riffs, Perkins's smart embellishments, and the granite-solid Hardin-Tutt-Tallent rhythm section offer a flawless, cohesive foundation, with cameos by Buddy Miller, Kelly Hogan, Emmylou, Patty Loveless and Dawn Sears.

- Rich Kienzle, No Depression