West of Texas – Hot Motel Nights
West of Texas is a modern day classic country and honky tonk shuffle outfit fronted by Jerry Zinn, and crafting classic sounding country music to share. Their new album Hot Motel Nights is newly available this week and well worth your time if you’re even remotely into honky tonk and pre-pop country.
“Wall of Memories” sets up a honky tonk foundation for this album, and, with a relatable image like the wall of memories that’s only possible through the passage of time, it strikes a universal chord.
“I Can Almost Taste the Whiskey” is a perfect song title for this genre – and as the song unfolds you can see folks lined up at the dive bar in your mind. Jerry’s vocals are low and 50’s authoritative as he sings observations of trying to break through and not let go: “tomorrow brings on the hurtin’ again, and you find the reasons not to let me in. I can almost taste the whiskey on your lips and the cherry lip gloss makes me never want to quit.”
“I Only Listen to Heartbreak Songs” shows the genius of Jerry Zinn’s songwriting: he can pen meta country songwriting and have it sound like simple old style country, and in fact, it’s perfectly both. “Put that needle on that record / Listen to the story spin of lies and deceit where nobody wins / There’s hurtin’ and there’s pain / So here we are again, to know the reason I feel like this.” Sung softly over piano before the shuffle begins.
“Doin’ Time” steps up the pace to double time in a song of trying to stop time, and that feeling that you’re “doing time all by myself” when somebody does you wrong. “I Hate the World Again” “(and the way it leaves me lonely)” is rich with pedal steel and violin taking turns with piano and a lonesome feeling.
“15% More of Your Love” is a song of hopeful conquest, but the sense that things always end up the same way: “how long before you realize this feelin’ ain’t mutual.”
This album is brilliant titles, wry commentary about things gone wrong – especially relationships, and a keen sense of classic country themes and how to express them clearly exemplified in Zinn’s songwriting.
Hot Motel Nights was produced by Ted Russell Kamp & Jerry Zinn; engineered by Ted Russell; and recorded at The Den. Basic tracks were produced by Taylor Kropp at 64 Sound. Basic tracks were engineered by Jimmy Dixon. It was mixed by Jonny Bell at Jazz Cats Studio, and mastered by Deke Dickerson.
Musicians on the album are Jerry Zinn on vocals and aoustic guitar 1-10; Ryan Posner on bass 1-10; Kevin Brown on drums 1-10; Jeremy Long on backup vocals 1-10, lead guitar 2-10, pedal steel 4-6, 8-10, piano 2-5, 7, accordion 9, baritone, glockenspiel and Timpani 8; Phil Glenn on fiddle and strings 1-2, 5, 8; Caleb Melo (Jesse Daniel) on pedal steel 2-3; Muskrat Jones (Brady Henrie) on pedal steel 7; James Mitchell on lead guitar and baritone 1; Eddie Lange on pedal steel 1; and Ted Russell Kamp on piano 10.