This album just came out about a week ago and when I saw the press release from Broken Jukebox Media I was brought back to a song by Young off his self-titled album from 2007.  That song, “Deep South Blues,” has this great horn opening, kind of a haunting blues piece played like a funeral march.  It is fantastic and has stuck with me all these years.  There are no horns to open any of the songs on this new album but it all works out just fine anyway.

After listening through several times I picked “It’s Gonna Be All Right” as my favorite, mostly because it is such a slow-paced  number.  Those always intrigue me as I know how hard it can be to pull off that kind of down tempo successfully (for me at least).  This track comes in on a mournful fiddle sound which continues to set the background tone throughout the song.  The other instruments are not subdued as much as they are gracefully and quietly present, just rising up briefly for short moments.   Vocal quality is on-point, strong and clear with lyrics more hopeful than the mood of the song.  

The rest of the tracks on Squirrels are good listens also with other noteworthy songs for me being “Dumb Luck,” “Lost in Hollywood” and “Parts.”  These, along with the rest of the selections, span across several genres although they are all grounded somewhere in the classic country / Americana & folk space.  There are up-tempo dancers, honky-tonk thumpers and more to enjoy here and it all works together very well. 

Check it out on your favorite streaming channel – and let me know your thoughts about it – music makes for good conversation! 

You can also check out more info about Jubal Lee Young at his website here:

https://juballeeyoung.com/

And if you have the inclination …think about purchasing it if you can as steaming music does not pay well even times a thousand. 

As always, please remember to support your local community and artists 🙂