I have a deep bond with this band since they impressed me with their music more than 4 years ago.
I discovered them when they were still a “local” band and despite being a small blogger who lived in a “Galaxy far, far away”, my words had reached Appalachia. (find my first review of their third album here: https://www.trexroads.com/iii-49-winchester-2020/).
Through social media I then met Isaac Gibson, band leader and magnificent artist and then in 2022 when Fortune Favors The Bold was released (reviewed here: https://www.trexroads.com/fortune-favors-the-bold-49-winchester-2022-english/) I sat back and watched the well-deserved rise of a group of immense talent.
My bond with them got stronger this year, after seeing them open my dream concert at Red Rocks (they opened for Shane Smith & The Saints).
In person they were as I had imagined them and they were not intimidated by a location that would take your breath away, on the contrary they took it away from those who didn’t know them.
The very long preamble served to warn you that the enthusiasm with which I am about to talk to you about this new album is not due to my bond, to the love I have for their music, but only from the sincere opinion I felt in listening to a almost perfect album.
Leavin’ This Holler is not just a title, but it is the story of a journey that led them to be one of the most loved and talented independent country-southern bands around: from small Castlewood, Virginia to conquering the world.
Isaac Gibson, vocals and guitar, Bus Shelton (lead guitar), Chase Chafin (bass), Noah Patrick (pedal steel), Tim Hall (piano, organ, keyboards) and Justin Louthian (drums) are now a certainty and confirm with these 10 songs from their 5th album (produced by Stewart Myers), the feeling I had at the first listen way back in 2020: a band out of the ordinary.
It starts with the western-flavored ballad Favor, a perfect arrangement that surrounds Gibson‘s never-enough-celebrated voice: a gift from Heaven.
But it is the words that he sings that are powerful and harsh, like the inhabitants of the lands where they come from in Virginia: a strong bond that is not only in the name of the band.
Hillbilly Happy also talks to us about real and hard life, but the song is a wild honky tonk immersed in a street rock song.
It’s difficult to confine 49 Winchester to one genre, but the basis on which everything is based is the real country, that of the Appalachian Mountains and we realize this in the subsequent Yearnin’ For You.
The banjo and the fiddle, a country song and an inspired lyric: that’s it. No special effects, no “viral” videos brought them to where they are now: just hard work and passion.
Make It Count is an energetic southern rock with a free and optimistic soul, a song that is southern like that of the great bands of the past, but it is the next one that reaches the lyrical and musical peak of the album.
The title track is a small masterpiece: from the emotional lyrics that talk to us about how to move forward and change things you have to leave “home”, to the music which is a fantastic and sticky ballad supported by Gibson’s wonderfully soulful voice, which has in singer Maggie Antone a perfect countersinging.
The band delivers a fantastic performance from every member and, trust me, they are even better live. The solo is the icing on the cake: beautiful.
Fast Asleep introduces something new in the band’s sound and arrangements: a symphonic section performed by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, which will also be present in the album’s finale.
The song is thus a powerful ballad scarred by guitars, but with a unique depth to which Gibson’s voice gives magic.
One of my absolute favorites, I fell in love with it after hearing it live, is Tulsa.
A fun and ironic celebration of the love for marijuana and life on the road, enclosed in a song that is one of the most southern rock songs on the album: powerful keyboards and guitars enhanced by quality production and then that voice, my friends , he could sing anything.
Another celebration of life on the road, with difficulties that are willingly accepted in order to do what you love, is Traveling Band (it is not a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival) in which pedal-steel is intertwined with guitars for a song that is probably the one that most refers to previous albums.
The album ends with perhaps the bravest and most surprising track in their discography: Anchor is an intense ballad with an orchestral arrangement that intertwines with the rhythm: a gimmick that gives depth and power to an already beautiful album.
An album that exudes beauty: Isaac Gibson‘s voice is pure beauty, the band’s sound is pure beauty, the lyrics are pure beauty and also their sincere love for their land and for their fans.
An album that also exudes visceral passion for their work and for the hard life they have chosen for themselves.
I have a list of artists who are fundamental to me, for how I understand music, the way of writing it, getting it to the fans, treating the fans: here, the 49 Winchester are on this list and I will forever thank those who made me listen to them for the first time.
I hope to become an inspiration for all of you: go and discover them and you won’t regret it.
This beautiful Leavin’ This Holler adds to the feeling that 2024 will go down in the annals as one of the most incredible independent music has ever seen.
Happy listening,
Trex
