...on Lonesome Pine Rides Again, the vocal becoming an instrument that pulls the pain from “Bring It Back”, the hope glimpsed under grey skies in “Even If the Sun Don’t Shine”, the despair behind the wheel with “Ever Since You Went Away”, and the memory stuck in the same small town for “Once I Had a Scooter”. Jeff Rymes is the storyteller, his delivery guiding the emotions as “It Rains All Over Town” turns up its collar against bad luck/weather while he counts off confessions in “Without Forgiveness” and vibrates with a rhythmic head rush for “Love is Here to Stay”.
Rymes, who has self-released a couple solid albums of his own since the dissolution of his band the Lonesome Strangers, makes a moody and jazzy kind of folk/country. Like some of Jerry Jeff Walker’s jazzier efforts, Rymes’ work sets country music in the wider context of standards and timeless pop music, while still bringing that wry and penetrating wit of post-outlaw country songwriting.
He’s a trip musically. He can sail effortlessly from a bluesy, southern rhythm and blues to a male version of Billie Holliday to a hot rod rocker of a tune.
Easy rhythms wrap about the tenderness in “Even If the Sun Don’t Shine”. Jeff Rymes reads an open letter from the heart on the title track from his recent release.
Country singer-songwriter Jeff Rymes will be giving his first public performances after a nearly two-decade hiatus and Pendleton will be one of his first stops.