Stan Martin Cigarettes and Cheap Whiskey

Cigarettes and Cheap Whiskey

Twangtone Records
If you enjoy the honky-tonking side of Dwight Yoakam and Merle Haggard, then you should chase down this new release by Boston country stalwart Stan Martin. A convincing singer and an absolute master of twangy Telecaster guitar, Martin mines the rockin' side of honky-tonk, so slam this into your CD changer and roll. Martin could easily be out of the Bakersfield school of country, but he cut the disc at Ducky Carlisle's Room 9 From Outer Space studio in South Boston. Carlisle assists on drums, and several other locals chip in, with bassist Charlie Irwin and pianist Tom West standing out. The one surprise guest is Scott Joss, who is Yoakam's fiddle player and adds zest to seven of the album's 12 tracks. Martin is an excellent distiller of the medium, whether it's on lost-love tracks ''Crying Over You'' and ''Thinking You're Wrong,'' or moving-on anthems such as ''Honky Tonk Fever,'' ''I Got the Roadhouse Blues,'' and the fast shuffle ''I'm Leaving Town,'' in which he and harmony singer Amber Casares sound like a latter-day Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris. This is a solid record from a honky-tonker who means it. Martin will play at Hillbilly Night at Johnny D's on Monday.

STEVE MORSE- The Boston Globe

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