Album Review – Country Honk’s “Bad Decision”

Reviews 32 Comments


#510.2 (Honky Tonk) on the Country DDS.

All country music is local. At least, all the best country music is. It’s music that carries forward people’s personal experiences, often in regional dialects that go on to create the rich and vibrant tapestry of the country music sound. Country artists might rise to become international superstars. But it all starts in local bars, singing about everyday struggles and experiences for friends and neighbors.

Cleveland, Ohio might be an unexpected origination point for a hard country honky tonk band, but that’s exactly what Country Honk is. No record label. No publicist. No big time producer. No problem. They’re still kicking out killer country music. Country Honk might have one the most generic names in the country universe, but you can’t say it’s not accurate. With their debut album Bad Decision, they pack in more honky tonk twang than the annual catalogs of many of Nashville’s major labels.

There’s often something special about a local country band. They don’t come with the pretentiousness of some national touring acts that always have to posture or trend chase to keep the tickets selling. They can just be themselves and let the music do the talking. Often there is little or no drop off in talent. It’s just these folks decided to hang around home.

Two of the songs on Bad Decisions are about this very thing. “Round and Round” will suck you in with its twangy intro and refrain, but it’s a song about choosing to settle down as opposed to chasing one’s tail in the musical rat race. “Charmayne” is about finding that one woman you’re willing to settle down with, and allowing life to slow down so it can be savored as opposed to spending every night chasing the next honky tonk high.

But if you’re getting the notion this sounds too much like a dad country for your tastes, don’t worry. “Funhouse Mirror” explores the more wild side of life. “But I Do” is a killer country heartbreaker. “King of Tobaccoville” is about that kind of local asshole we all know and hate.

Yet what deserves to be most emphasized about Country Honk is the country, and the honk. Guitar player Thor Platter and bass player Thomas Prebish share lead vocal duties. Then you have guitar/steel guitarist Anthony Papaleo throwing down some serious lead licks that deserve praise well beyond the Cleveland, Ohio music scene, including the excellent instrumental “Bob’s Your Uncle.” Along with Alredo “Freddy” Perez-Stable, Country Honk is the local band that deserves a national and international audience.

Cut at the Suma Recording Studio just outside of Cleveland, and all written and produced by the band themselves, Bad Decision is just a good listening record cover to cover that makes you want to root for Country Honk and all the country bands out there doing it from a love of the music.

8/10

– – – – – – –

Purchase Bad Decision on vinyl





© 2025 Saving Country Music

,