Jerry Webb - Red Lips & Honky Tonks
In this week's episode, we're featuring a hardcore Texas country album from Jerry Webb: "Red Lips & Honky Tonks" (2007). Originally hailing from West Texas, Webb was a schoolmate to Texas fiddle legend Jody Nix - and it was with his father Hoyle Nix that he learned many tricks of the trade, subbing as a bassist in the popular West Texas Cowboys for almost a decade. After family and career duties demanded a hiatus of some years, he cut his first album in the late 90s in Austin and later, Webb wound up in Fort Worth. There he became a fixture on the dance circuit, performing regularly at Pearl's Dancehall, fondly nicknamed "The Gem Of The Stockyards". In fact, our feature album this week features Webb in front of that venue on the front cover - and no doubt many of the songs, all but one written by Jerry Webb himself, graced the stage of Pearl's. Produced by Carl Vaughan, Chip Bricker and Gary Carpenter (also featuring Carp on steel guitar), this album is an exceptionally strong set of traditional country songs and highlights include the magnificent "Red Lips", built around a cheesy pickup line; the telling "Wrong From The Ring" and if "I Love A Texas Honky Tonk" doesn't make you crave a Crown double, I suggest you listen again. Honky tonk gold as it should be done in the 21st Century.