Album Review – Dolly Shine’s “Walkabout”
It was only a matter of time before Stephenville, TX became a hotbed for upsurging country music talent. Folks outside the Lone Star State may not recognize the name compared to the hotbeds of Austin, Lubbock, and other bigger cities, and for years Stephenville’s biggest claim to musical fame may have been Jewel moving in with boyfriend and rodeo champion Ty Murray at his ranch outside of town. But as the “Cowboy Capital of the World” and home of the massive Larry Joe Taylor Fest each year drawing tens of thousands of Texas country fans from around the world to the north Texas town, it’s no wonder eventually locals were inspired to test their own talents with songs and six strings.
Following in the footsteps of fellow Stephenville band Six Market Blvd., Dolly Shine formed in 2010, and recently presented their third release called Walkabout. Though officially dubbed as an EP, the nine songs of Walkabout have a full album’s worth of quality material.
Dolly Shine is a young, hungry, and adept Texas country band in the truest sense, shifting between bluesy rock and traditional country, and calling regularly on the fiddle to carry songs with the strong influences of Texas music right out front for listeners to latch onto.
“Dale shine” is a south Texas/Hispanic colloquialism that is roughly translated to “Go for it!”, and that’s the attitude this band brings to every song they perform. Even if it happens to be a slower, storyteller-style song, they put all their heart and back into the effort. And that resolve and spirit is rewarded by engagement with the audience.
You can’t judge Dolly Sine by the first song you hear, because they shift gears more than almost any band in the Texas scene, while still staying comfortably within the confines of it. The opening song called “Blackbird” has all the earmarks of hard rock until a menacing fiddle comes blazing in, but the very next song “Come Out Swingin'” sounds like an early Randy Rogers tune. The droning and dirty “Hitchikin'” would get a nod of approval from Ray Wylie Hubbard for minding the grit and groove, while “Snakeskin Boots” evokes the uncensored storytelling of Robert Earl Keen.
And in between all of it are songs that speak to the increasing influence of the Turnpike Troubadours on everything Texas country; songs that take a keen perspective on relationships and emotion like “Closing Time” and “Anywhere Close to Fine.” But what separates Dolly Shine from just being great students and interpreters of the songwriting and styles that came before them in Texas country is their ability to use ambient sound beds through guitar tone and harmony to put that shiver in your spine and really evoke a mood to their music that most others miss. This is what you find in the center of Walkabout with the project’s two best selections, “Rattlesnake” and “Twist The Knife.”
None of this would be worth listening to if the songwriting didn’t hold up though, and it does throughout, maybe with the best example being the final song “Old Flame.” The concern about Dolly Shine is if all this shifting around of style makes them the jack of all Texas musical trades, but a master of none. Though the music finds an infectiousness and appeal, it stops just slightly short of music that you crave well beyond pressing pause, or lending something wholly unique to music. But this is still a young band, so there’s is no reason to give up on the idea that those moments aren’t coming in the future as their lineup solidifies and their sound finds its home.
If you’re looking for some more Texas country in your diet and are impatient for the arrival of another Turnpike Troubadours record, Dolly Shine will certainly speak to you, and get you excited about what the Texas scene and Stephenville, TX have to offer for the future.
1 1/2 Guns Up (7/10)
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Purchase Dolly Shine’s Walkabout
Dolly Shine is: Zack McGinn – Vocals, Jerrod Flusche – Electric Guitars, Wes Hall – Fiddle, Ben Hussey – Bass, Johnny Goodson – Drums.
July 24, 2016 @ 1:14 pm
Trig,
It is getting impossible to view this website on an iPhone as the ads keep hijacking the safari browser. The site keeps getting redirected to an add tracking site. Just thought I would let you know and if anyone else has been having the same issue.
July 24, 2016 @ 1:26 pm
I had that issue a few months back-it’s not the site, it’s your phone. If I remember right, just clear your browser history and that’ll clear up. It was a really easy fix, assuming it’s the same thing. It sounds like it is
July 24, 2016 @ 1:33 pm
Folks, I sincerely apologize if you’re seeing pop up ads, but there’s absolutely positively nothing I can do about them, and they have nothing to do with the site. I have never, and will never have pop up ads, and if any site is creating or serving Malware, it immediately gets shut down by browsers. Unfortunately, there are certain viruses that ONLY populate on mid-sized sites like Saving Country Music so that you blame the site, not your device. It doesn’t matter that SCM is the ONLY site where you’re seeing it, or even if you’re seeing it on different devices since it can migrate via your cloud or email. I’m just as much of a victim as anyone else, but I can assure you the site is exhaustively checked, and it has nothing to do with it.
If you are seeing popups, try deleting your cookies, updating your software, installing a Malware app and running it. I do have ads on the site, but you should NEVER see any type of popup, or anything obscuring the reading experience on SCM. These Malware issues pop up for about 24 to 48 hours, and then they tend to go away as Apple or Android rectify them.
Sorry for the hassle.
July 24, 2016 @ 1:55 pm
Really glad you mentioned this. I thought I was the only one. It is the most annoying thing in the world.
July 30, 2016 @ 8:32 am
I had the same problem and followed Kyle’s advice. I have nothing to do with the developer but I’m using the 1Blocker app and annoying ads are gone here and everywhere else online. It’s worth upgrading to the paid version.
July 30, 2016 @ 4:21 pm
This is the deal with Ad Blockers:
If you are seeing popups on Saving Country Music or any other mid-sized site that is not serving popups, it is because of Malware or a virus on your device. Installing a popup blocker may stop the popups, but it will not remove the virus from your hardware. Furthermore, the virus will continue to spread via your cloud, contacts, etc. At least until Apple or Android take it seriously enough and remove the threat network wide, which they usually do in about 36 to 48 hours after the virus begins to spread.
Also, though you may stop the popups, certain Ad Blockers also block the essential ads Saving Country Music and other sites need to survive. Without ad views, there is no way to pay the bills. This is one of the fundamental reasons 80% of music blogs have gone away in the last couple of years. It’s also the reason many websites continue to add more and more ads to make up for that revenue, compounding the problem, forcing more users to get more ad blockers, to the point where the economic model of the internet implodes.
This popup issue at the moment is posing and existential threat to Saving Country Music and other mid-level sites, already dealing with other overwhelming issues. Unlike 90% of the rest of the internet, I am committed to keeping the reading space free of all ads, and not using popups, drop downs, video streaming ads, or anything else. Luckily there are ad blockers now that eliminate the most intrusive ads, but allow the essential ads a website needs to pay the bills to be filtered through.
I use the internet all the time too, and hate ads. But they are essential to keeping sites like Saving Country Music free, and operating. So if you use the wrong ad blockers, though you may eliminate the annoying popup ads (which will eventually disappear), ultimately there will be no Saving Country Music for the ads to populate on in the first place.
I am completely at the mercy of Google and Android to solve this problem long-term. Otherwise, it’s curtains for Saving Country Music. If not from the loss of revenue and the destruction of my brand, then my my unwillingness to spend 6-8 hours a day constantly trying to verify the issue has nothing to do with the site, and responding to angry readers who think I’m cashing in on this issue that is completely out of my control, and is destroying my revenue streams, not helping them.
July 24, 2016 @ 1:24 pm
Goddamn. I liked literally every single aspect of that song. I’m going out immediately to find more of their stuff and it seems likely I’ll be giving them my monies soon
July 24, 2016 @ 8:40 pm
From their previous release I had felt they were just another generic Texas country outfit. So much growth between their last album and this one. There were also some lineup changes. They also said that this was the first time they recorded everything as a band. I think it shows.
While Trig may think jack of all trades, master of none, I really like the diversity on the album. There are really no skip-worthy songs on the record. I really think they hit their stride on “Rattlesnake”, “Snakeskin Boots” and “Hitchhikin'”
July 24, 2016 @ 8:53 pm
I like this band. Just got the album and ready to give it a few listens.
July 24, 2016 @ 11:45 pm
Really like the song embedded in your article. Will be sure to have a listen of the album.
The ‘jack of all trades’ vibe that I’m getting from the article Trigger reminds me of Reckless Kelly, can go from rocking out to slow and solemn on the same album.
July 25, 2016 @ 6:21 am
now thats a good band. sounds good. .u no wut els is good? the 1991 film rush starings greg allman jason patrick an jennifer jason lee an sam elliot. now thats a good flick.
July 25, 2016 @ 10:34 am
Lil Dale sighting? YES!! Love this song, thanks for the review, Trigger, must find the CD.
July 25, 2016 @ 8:29 am
often I can’t watch the videos here. I’m in Canada, maybe that’s it, cause I have tried several browsers.
July 25, 2016 @ 10:43 am
If the embedded videos are not actual live-action videos or lyric videos, they are generated from YouTube via digital distribution. These are going to have country tags that may not allow you to see them outside of the United States. That doesn’t mean you still can’t listen to the song on YouTube, but it is likely in a different player with a different URL. Due to different copyright laws in different countries, this can happen. I always try to find videos that everyone can hear, but sometimes they are not available. I’m at the mercy of what the artists and labels provide.
July 25, 2016 @ 5:00 pm
Thanks for the explanation!
July 30, 2016 @ 9:39 am
Great review Trig. I love the recommendations for Red Dirt bands. Keep ’em coming.