Album Review – Doug Armento and the Iron Mules – “River of No Return”
Outlaw Country (#580) on the Country DDS.
Doug Armento has many country music stories to tell, both through his songs, and in his life. It all started in 1977 when he was 16 years old and saw Waylon Jennings performing on stage. “The sound was raw and real. Moon’ was pickin’ steel,” he recalls in the opening song of this album. After that, there was little to no hope for him. He was hooked on Outlaw country. Here just shy of 50 years later, he still can’t kick the habit.
Armento started taking photographs of his Outlaw country heroes as a way to commemorate and memorialize them (see below)— guys like Waylon of course, Willie Nelson, Hank Williams Jr., and Johnny PayCheck. And this was at a time when photography wasn’t a feature on your phone, it was an artform.
Doug Armento also picked up singing and playing the songs of the old greats, and hasn’t stopped yet. Though tastes ebb and flow like they always do, the songs of the Outlaws remain timeless and perennially influential, as does their attitude of doing things their own way.
All of this is what Doug Armento puts into the 13 original songs of his new album River of No Return, backed by his band The Iron Mules, anchored by his son and guitar player Doug Armento Jr. It’s Outlaw. It’s raw and real. Armento is no spring chicken though, and won’t be the next hot up-and-comer. This album also has that local country hero feel to it, if that makes sense, and is not a threat to shoot up the charts. But there is something endearing and refreshing about it, while also delivering some really cool songs.
The thing about these older songwriters is they tend to have the best stories to tell because they’ve lived a lot of life. Whether it’s getting T-boned by a couple of texting teens, and living to tell the tale with his dog, or a brush with death via a plane crash, Armento has a knack for setting life to song. It might be the stone cold truth, slightly embellished, or outright fiction. But either way, you’re happy to be along for the ride.
You also get a lot of wisdom from these old guys. One of the best songs on the album is called “Keep Your Powder Dry.” It’s about knowing when it’s worth getting in a tussle, and when you should save your time and energy for bigger game—a lesson well worth learning in the online era. In fact, each song on the album seems to come with a little lesson or clue to unearth, however subtle.
From Idaho, Doug Armento also instills the geography of the West in some of his songs, and then includes tales of the wild women that can be found there. “Thank Heaven for a Hell of a Woman” it’s just a hell of a well-written song that some of the pros back in Nashville are probably kicking themselves for not penning.
And of course everything comes with that punchy, two-tone base line, pounding kick drum attitude that is the calling card of Outlaw country, and the antithesis of everything country pop. Add on top of that Armento’s well-seasoned voice that you can tell lived what it sings, and it’s not hard to buy into what he and the Iron Mules are laying down here.
Like so many true country fans, keeping the memory of all the old Outlaw country greats alive is serious business for Doug Armento. It’s not just about playing their songs and sharing their photos. It’s about paying their legacy forward in original songs the take inspiration from their music. That’s what Doug Armento and the Iron Mules do via River of No Return.
7.8/10
– – – – – – – – – –
Select Photography of Doug Armento:
February 6, 2026 @ 10:02 am
It’s got that sound, that Outlaw feel to it. I could listen to this for awhile. As a late teen in the early ’80’s around Bruneau ID, there was a cover band (Runnin’ for Cover) that this reminds me of. Nicely done.
February 6, 2026 @ 1:14 pm
Big fan of “Runnin for Cover” I totally see the connection.
February 7, 2026 @ 10:23 pm
[ sounds of breaking glass ]
My…but the first five-seconds of that there song was mighty fine…mighty fine
So, jes put the interests of that garage first, and the next time you see it again, just say, ” I think you deserve a better band.”
Alright now….!! old Roadhog’s just funnin’…..
February 7, 2026 @ 7:19 am
Oh yeah, the good ol days when men were men and sheep were scared. Don’t think we missed the “Natives aren’t friendly” part, and another wink to “hell of a woman”, fortunately not placed under the stuff you need to “keep your powder dry” for. There’s a very unthin line between recognising the sins of the past that were part of the culture that brought us country music and celebrating them.
February 7, 2026 @ 8:34 am
Not following you here. I didn’t pick up on any anti-Native American sentiment in this music if that’s what you’re implying.
I think we all just need to try and lower the temperature.
February 7, 2026 @ 9:21 am
I just went back and re-listened to the song. The brilliance of it is how Doug takes these allusions to Western culture and then ties them into today’s very online world. Obviously back in the day, Native Americans and settlers warred with each other. The irony here is that the song is about not getting drawn into petty online fights. And by the way, I personally took a lot of wisdom away from that song. “There ain’t much meat on a squirrel.”
February 7, 2026 @ 9:01 am
LOL!! What?
February 7, 2026 @ 1:30 pm
Finally found some time to throw this one on and I love it. And not in the same way I love a great Turnpike or Jinks album, but I love the passion that Doug and his band have for outlaw country. This guy reminds me of a good friend of mine that has this same level of passion for Jersey Shore music – Bruce, Southside Johnny, etc…. He writes and records that style because when you’re 60+ something and lived in Jersey all your life, that’s what’s in your blood. Doug has outlaw country running through his veins and was lucky enough and talented enough to write and record some songs that will live forever and one day his great grandkids, and their kids will hear it at a family get together and pass it down to their kids like an heirloom. Having his son in the band just makes it that much better. I wish I had an ounce of the talent these guys do and I’d make a Red Dirt album that I could leave behind knowing maybe 10 people on the planet would actually listen to it. I think it’s awesome you reviewed this Trigger and if I walked into a honky tonk and these guys were tearing it up in the corner playing this stuff in between Waylon and Merle covers my butt would be planted firmly on a barstool until they broke down the drum kit.
February 7, 2026 @ 10:22 pm
Greatest river in the world. This Middleton guy must have realized the central part of the state is superior.
February 9, 2026 @ 8:03 pm
jilly role got better tats