Album Review – Gabe Lee’s “Honky Tonk Hell”
Honky Tonk Hell isn’t just a great record. It verifies that Gabe Lee will be one of the next great artists in country and roots music that we’ll hopefully be hearing plenty from and enjoying for years to come.
His first record Farmland was a formidable work of song and performance as well, but preliminary and austere in its approach as a mostly acoustic record. It worked for him as a naturally-gifted singer and songwriter who needs little more than a mic and a guitar to make magic, and may even include a better group of songs than this new one. But you knew when listening that you were hearing the bones of what could be something even greater when robed in a more purposeful approach to the instrumentation and production.
This hypothesis is verified in Honky Tonk Hell. From fire-breathing Southern rock, to delicate piano ballads, Hank Williams-style Southern poetry, to Dylan-esque harmonica and rhyme, Honky Tonk Hell covers it all, and with the authority of a performer who is not torn about who he is, or addled by worries of how he’s perceived by the outside facing world. Gabe Lee belts his original words out like a man born to do it and who knows nothing else. His effortlessness is uncanny.
Pay no mind to the surprising package this music comes in. Gabe Lee has that mastery of Southern phrases and vernacular that few this side of Tyler Childers are able to call upon, and a cunning wit for how to weave it into melody and phrase, and steer it towards highlighting the strengths of his voice. If anything, assign bonus points to Gabe Lee for being virtually the only frontman of Asian heritage in country and roots.
Honky Tonk Hell begins with the title track that immediately announces this will not be some delicate and artsy singer and songwriter suite, but an omnivorous buffet with red meat a part of the spread. Co-written with Marcus King, “Honky Tonk Hell” captures Gabe growling about “All the folks down in Nashville, writing phony ass country songs.” And as one of the few souls in the music business who actually grew up in Music City, he can speak with authority on this matter.
At last check, Gabe Lee still calls Nashville home, but Honky Tonk Hell is all about moving on, leaving bad blood, memories, and relationships behind, and finding one’s self on the open road and in unfamiliar environs. This is what you hear from “Babylon,” to “Great Big River,” to “Blue Ridge Goodbye.” And whether it’s the Heartland feel of “Babylon,” the The Robert Zimmerman mood of “Imogene,” Gabe Lee finds the right textures and approach from which to tell his stories the best.
Honky Tonk Hell is also about women. This is where Gabe Lee has found his most potent muse in his short but productive career. “Eveline” from his first record was the song that stood out for most, and found the soft spot in Gabe’s heart, and and the sweet spot in his voice. “Susannah” is one of the more upbeat moments on the new album, without lacking in the writing department to make sure you don’t just hear, but feel the message.
But it’s on “Emmylou” when you once again hear the sound a heart makes when it shatters. It’s difficult to be overly complimentary about Gabe Lee’s manner of singing. It’s not just about some natural gift of tone or control. It’s his instinct to know how to use it. The second time Gabe sings the simple name “Emmylou” on this song, you’d swear it would have the power to make a barren field sprout flowers with the amount of emotion contained in those few fleeting, but eloquently elongated syllables.
Gabe Lee will continue to fly under-the-radar for many because he’s just too damn good. But the the more fleshed out approach of Honky Tonk Hell, along with the flavorful offerings that include something for everyone with country, roots, and Southern rock sensibilities, this record damn well better land him in the ears of an audience sizable enough to launch as sustainable career. Nobody’s looking to get rich here, but we’ll all benefit from making sure Gabe Lee gets to continue to do what he does here, and for bigger audiences, and well into the foreseeable future.
8.5/10
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Purchase Gabe Lee’s Honky Tonk Hell
March 13, 2020 @ 8:23 am
“Pay no mind to the surprising package this music comes in. Gabe Lee has that mastery of Southern phrases and vernacular that few this side of Tyler Childers are able to call upon, and a cunning wit for how to weave it into melody and phrase, and steer it towards highlighting the strengths of his voice. If anything, assign bonus points to Gabe Lee for being virtually the only frontman of Asian heritage in country and roots.”
this is some seriously backwoods shit.
March 13, 2020 @ 8:35 am
Why don’t you go eat shit? What a terrible way to start off the conversation about this important artist, and this important album. This is the the problem with all you keyboard activists. You envision me sitting in the soft glow of a computer screen in some dank basement with a MAGA hat on and a tab open to some “alt right” website, while I’ve been on the front line of pursuing diversity in country music for a dozen years, and way before it was the hip thing to do. Gabe Lee is a great example of how the love and talent for country music can come from anyone, and from anywhere, and we should all open our minds to the expressions of others. And here you come shitting all over that because it doesn’t fit in the tiny little box you want to fit me in.
Bad comment.
March 13, 2020 @ 8:44 am
i am a big gabe lee fan. i am really diggin the album. him being of asian descent has nothing to do with it.
i didn’t write the review, starting the conversation, that said “don’t be surprised that this asian guy can sing”. that is on you. he’s an american. why should i be surprised that someone born and raised in nashville would be able to play country music? should i be surprised that charlie pride made great country music too?
March 13, 2020 @ 9:00 am
“don’t be surprised that this asian guy can sing”
You put quotes around that phrase, like that’s something I said, or would say. But I never did.
It is exceptional, and unusual to have an Asian American singing roots music. It’s also beautiful. If you have a problem with me pointing it out, take it up with Gabe Lee and his management too. Because they’re also pointing it out.
You’re not pissed off I brought up Gabe Lee’s ethnicity. You’re pissed off because it undercut your assessment that I’m a stove-headed racist piece of shit, predicated on nothing more than your binary vision of the world.
March 13, 2020 @ 9:14 am
“Pay no mind to the surprising package this music comes in … If anything, assign bonus points to Gabe Lee for being virtually the only frontman of Asian heritage in country and roots.” – Trigger
what’s the surprising package? it certainly isn’t the album sleeve. “don’t be surprised that this asian guy can sing” may not be a direct quote but there’s no way you can misread what you actually said.
and you’re right. i’m not pissed you brought up his ethnicity probably for the same reason his management is using it, diversity should be celebrated. but telling someone to “pay no mind to the surprising package” (i.e. his ethnicity) is gross. it’s gross because you are portraying it as a hindrance that people should ignore and get passed.
you certainly haven’t undercut anything.
March 13, 2020 @ 9:03 am
for someone who claims to be the gentle, you’ve got some nerve to say “[lee] being of asian descent has nothing to do with it”.
trig, keep doing what you do. don’t let ‘em get to you!
March 13, 2020 @ 9:19 am
yeah the guy who has a problem with this is racist.
March 13, 2020 @ 10:25 am
You should be happy that “the gentile” doesn’t see color. 😉
March 13, 2020 @ 10:42 am
ah yes, because i am not jewish i hate jewish people. critical thinking at its finest!
for the record if is the review had said: “Pay no mind to the surprising package this music comes in … If anything, assign bonus points to Bob Dylan for being virtually the only frontman of Jewish heritage in country and roots,” i would also have a problem with that.
March 13, 2020 @ 12:57 pm
Alright Trig I guess you need to run all articles and comments by him before posting in case he has a problem with anything . God forbid his delicate sensibilities are offended!
March 14, 2020 @ 10:00 am
Maybe you should stop interpreting things from your views and think maybe someone said it in a positive light, particularly someone with Trigger’s record of giving spot lights to any race and creed that plays good country music. He simply said to judge a book by its cover, and maybe it wasn’t the best phrasing he clearly did not intend it that way, and you wanting to create a debate and think you can determine someone hates people due to their race, the definition of racist because you can be prejudice and not racist as all humans are prejudice. Calling racist due to a prejudice statement gets old and tired.
May 25, 2020 @ 11:41 pm
Friend,
Thx for supporting what we do, as well as addressing a topic that I (as an asian american growing up in TN), and we (as a music label), have/will undoubtedly come across.
In our recent introduction to the songwriter scene, both my management and I have understood the importance of writers like Trigger bc of their trusted opinion as scholars of country music. As a listener myself I have to admit my playlist is a little dusty, which i prefer to most of what is labeled as – and sits atop the charts of – Country today.
But i think the locals here at Saving Country can overwhelmingly agree that Trigger consistently shares poignant and honest criticism of his chosen material; if i were to publish an utterly crap song about tractors trucks and daisy dukes tomorrow I’d be seriously disappointed if he didn’t rip us a new one.
Truly I’ve come to welcome the crowd response, “I didn’t expect you to sound like that,” – which I think Trigger indirectly alludes to by the comment that you disagreed with, and to which i take no offense – hell i’m beginning to think it’s working in my favor. Now i write from personal experience here, and with a unique set of roots to be sure..but given the opportunity to bring folks together through music is a rare thing, even at odds with another.
As this thread indicates, we’ve got a task ahead of us, as i unpack my own memories and experience into writing and song hoping folks can not only understand it, but also enjoy listening to it, is a lot to ask. But i’d like to maintain I am neither culprit nor victim in that said experience. Shit i’ve fucked up way more than I’ve succeeded, been a criminal countless times more than acting hero. Man, woman, race, religion, we’ve all to answer to something right?
I’m just another guy with some thoughts to get out
thank god ive a guitar.
May 26, 2020 @ 7:38 am
Thanks for chiming in Gabe, and thanks for the music.
March 13, 2020 @ 8:45 am
but i am sure he appreciates the “bonus points”.
March 13, 2020 @ 9:23 am
I’d say I’m sure he appreciates his white knight here to save the day and make derogatory comments towards someone who has shown nothing but support, but I find it really patronizing to assume what he thinks. So I won’t.
March 13, 2020 @ 9:46 am
Your line of commenting here is everything wrong with the internet. Remarking on someone’s race is not racist. Acknowledging that it’s surprising to find an Asian frontman in country music – the first I know of since Neil McCoy – is not racist.
March 13, 2020 @ 9:54 am
i agree, remarking on someone’s race is not racist. but telling someone to “pay no mind to the surprising package” (his race) is gross. it’s gross because you are portraying it as something people have to ignore and get passed. why someone born and raised in nashville making country music is surprising, idk, you tell me.
March 13, 2020 @ 10:00 am
Perhaps, if all someone hears is dog whistles, they may be the dog.
March 13, 2020 @ 12:39 pm
Neal refers to himself as texapeno he is from Jacksonville, Texas I believe is the city without looking it up. He has philipine roots.
March 13, 2020 @ 11:30 am
Your pretending to not notice that this guy is Asian, and that an Asian-American making great country music is a bit unusual, isn’t fooling anybody. Please. Just please.
March 13, 2020 @ 11:57 am
who is pretending not to notice? i’m very aware of it but it has absolutely no standing on anyone’s ability to make music or my ability to enjoy it. i do not find it surprising that someone born and raised in nashville can make great country music. i don’t need a caveat about what he looks like to listen to good music because it doesn’t have any bearing.
“Pay no mind to the surprising package this music comes in.”
March 13, 2020 @ 12:22 pm
Congratulations on your superiority and level of wokeness! Good god. Trig making a comment on music coming from someone that doesn’t fit the usual mold is no more racist than people being surprised with Susan Boyle, how ever many years ago that was. This is the type of nonsense that prohibits progress and necessary discussions on race because people don’t want to deal with unwarranted bullshit.
March 13, 2020 @ 12:34 pm
Backwoods shit checking in.
Gentile, it may come as a surprise to someone of your level of perceptual sophistication that even out here in the backwoods, we got us some education and experience, and some of us have even lived and worked in other countries where we learned another language despite our sticking out like sore thumbs.
Why, I myself have even seen the natives of other countries express surprise to hear their language spoken so well by someone who doesn’t look like the majority of them and their ancestors. I have yet to hear any non-native speaker take offense at this surprise. In fact, most are pleased.
I also know a musician from one country who went to another country to study an obscure folk music there. He became so proficient at that obscure folk music that the natives in that country were shocked to hear their music played with such deep knowledge and skill by someone who looked nothing like them. Again, the learner took no offense.
Statistical math is still math. Perhaps you have to live a little longer to understand how the weight of lived experience and routine affects a person. Has there ever been a Taiwanese honky-tonker in Nashville? I am guessing no. Have there been many Asian country musicians in Nashville? I am going with no. Are there many second-generation Asians in Nashville who go to country music shows? I don’t know, but I’m guessing not very many.
So there will probably be a fair bit of surprise when Nashvillians see Gabe Lee and hear how he sounds like a young Bob Dylan who got invited to sit in with Ernest Tubb’s Texas Troubadours or the Hot Band.
But it doesn’t take much for a guy like Gabe to please people. People know sincerity and love when they hear it, and they become convinced. Unfortunately, it takes less to convince people you’re not seeing the forest for the trees.
Woops sorry, that’s backwoods shit talking.
March 13, 2020 @ 12:39 pm
“Pay no mind” white knight. Ironically in all of this, those words might be more appropriate for you than anyone.
March 13, 2020 @ 12:58 pm
let’s compare two statements. one from this article and one from a similar article and really the only two i found that even care to bring it up.
1. “Pay no mind to the surprising package this music comes in … If anything, assign bonus points to Gabe Lee for being virtually the only frontman of Asian heritage in country and roots.”
2. “A Nashville native and one of the few Americana artists with Asian ancestry, Lee’s “Emmylou” is something of a milestone for the independent talent.”
the latter says he is one of a few asian americans operating in the genre and he makes good music. the former says sure he’s asian but don’t let that bother you because the music is good. there is a difference.
but as anyone who uses the term ‘woke’ to dismiss something they disagree with, i don’t expect this to be an actual conversation.
March 13, 2020 @ 1:04 pm
I normally don’t like the word woke either, but damn if it’s not appropriate hear. Congratulations on turning the comments section of an overwhelming positive review into your crusade, white knight.
March 13, 2020 @ 1:18 pm
That’s ok. Anyone who dismisses something or someone as ‘backwoods’ because their statement wasn’t worded exactly as you liked in order to not offend your delicate sensibilities isn’t worth conversing with either. Maybe you should take your ball and go home and find a hobby.
March 13, 2020 @ 1:25 pm
someone says a statement is problematic (at best), gets called delicate.
someone takes offense to the term backwoods, a hero.
March 13, 2020 @ 1:36 pm
Nah, you’re the only hero here white knight. Your own intolerance and use of derogatory language is excused, because you’re on the crusade. Resist!
March 13, 2020 @ 1:41 pm
jake, it’s like you just learned the term white knight. you’ve used it in every comment you’ve made. mix it up a bit!
March 13, 2020 @ 1:55 pm
I want to make sure your valiant comments get you due recognition for bravery. I’m ok in consistently giving you the recognition you deserve…….white knight.
March 13, 2020 @ 12:41 pm
Agreed. Bad comment. It’s ok your dedicated long time readers know you ain’t even close to that and you have supported and emphasized the contributions of women in the independent country scene since day one for example. Keep on triggin’.
March 15, 2020 @ 3:37 pm
Damn gentile, seems like you get butt hurt over every article on this site these days. Maybe check out CMT or Rolling Stone for a more politically correct music review. Hell maybe even CNN. But I guess that’s just my dumbass backwards “backwoods” opinion. By the way good review trig.
March 13, 2020 @ 5:23 pm
“Why don’t you go eat shit.”
The hit’s just keep on comin’.
Seriously, a great review.
Oh, and don’t forget,
white knight.
March 14, 2020 @ 12:28 pm
I speak SJW, so allow me to translate: ‘Music critic reminded readers to not judge someone on skin color, therefore music critic is a racist.’
NOTE: SJW is a rapidly devolving language. Later translations will likely result in the commenter himself being labeled as racist by fellow SJWs.
Always happy to help.
March 16, 2020 @ 12:46 pm
Better to assume the best of people. You’re not changing the world by nitpicking a statement like this in a comment section. If anything, you’re only encouraging racists.
Music and culture are constantly handshaking. Just because one can play country music, it doesn’t mean that it’ll be convincing. Trigger asking folks to ignore Lee’s heritage isn’t due to any insensitivity on the part of Trigger. It’s because, while Lee could be a competent musician, it wouldn’t matter if we didn’t buy what he’s selling. Trigger’s pointing out that the heart’s there, even if he doesn’t look like he’s from the south…or blue collar…or any of the other superlatives we typically associate with country artists.
The point here is that Lee is a country/folk troubadour through and through, though he may not appear so. I imagine Trigger would post a similar comment to, say, Justin Timberlake making a country record if it were as good as this. This is not about race. This is about culture. Now, if you’re one of those cunts who feel the two are one and the same, well, then you’re not just a cunt. You’re a stupid cunt.
March 13, 2020 @ 8:56 am
Good Lord this record is good. At first listen the highness of his voice threw me a little bit, mebbe wasn’t what I was expecting given the instrumentation, but by two minutes in I wouldn’t trade it for anyone else’s. Fantastic.
March 13, 2020 @ 9:37 am
Farmland was a part of handful of albums that cam out last spring that ended up being some of my favorites from the whole year, along with Taylor Alexander, Charles Wesley Godwin, and Ian Noe. I also forgot this was coming out today, which was a pleasant surprise considering all that’s been going on the last few days. About halfway through it an I’m loving every minute of it so far. Well done.
March 13, 2020 @ 9:44 am
If Gabe Lee was a public company, I would buy every share I could get my hands on. This guy is f#$king sensational. He has a hell of a future.
March 13, 2020 @ 4:32 pm
He is a public company, and you can buy every share you can afford. Go out and purchase as many of his albums you can and give them to friends, coworkers, etc. Spread the word, and it will pay dividends. 😉
March 14, 2020 @ 9:24 am
Yeah not what I meant Jimmy, or the point I was trying to make. Also not true. Purchasing an end product and an ownership stake are fundamentally different things. One is an investment. Another an expense. But everyone should go but Gabe Lee’s music. That we can agree on.
March 13, 2020 @ 10:29 am
Good record, good songs, and a good artist. I do not know how this review could have turned negative via some of the comments. There are those who look to be offended and parse every word or sentence to try and extract something they think is offensive.
For those who engage in such activities, get the hell off this website.
In the interest of being fair and balanced, neither do I feel the need to constantly comment about not being a Trumpian. No apology needed. It seems there is always a rush to state that one is not “right-of-center” especially when being accused of it. I am right of center in every way. So what? Got many friends who aren’t. So what? No apologies required regardless of where one is.
In conclusion, Good record, good songs, and a good artist.
March 13, 2020 @ 10:59 am
with the title track, lee has come as close as anyone to getting the sound of Joe Ely’s Lord of the Highway [maybe the greatest heavy metal country record of all time] on record.
March 13, 2020 @ 11:09 am
re song : honky tonk hell . ( don’t know how that is the title ?? )
gabe sounds like an artist with something to say and , of course , I applaud that .
do I want to hear it in the mainstream ? is it a good SONG ? …is it universal ? do i hear myself in the lyric ? do i LIKE it for his vocal performance or for a uniqueness musically ? for me the answers are all ‘no ‘ .
but as with the isbells , the simpsons , the childers , the prices and every one else who a lot of folks not named albert have considered the ‘second coming ‘ i say great . do your thing, gabe . you WILL find a following if you do YOUR thing and you will likely keep that following interested for much longer than if you record a dallas davidson nursery rhyme and score a huge number 1 megahit .
re: emmylou . i didn’t feel this .
as with the other artists i mentioned above , i can’t get past gabe’s voice and that’s on me ..i know . a good lyric is a good song . but a good lyric with a good melody sung by a GREAT vocalist is a GREAT song .
March 13, 2020 @ 11:32 am
Albert, you’re a pro, so your ears can be forgiven. Pro’s didn’t like Dylan, either.
Gabe has been described as a “Nashville folkie” in what I’ve read, and I’d go with that if it weren’t for his obvious love of country tradition. He reminds me of Ian Noe, who apparently patterns his singing after Prine. Both ride the fence between folk and country.
By the way, Lee’s parents were immigrants from Taiwan. He’s a first-generation American, and his kids will be healthy American mutts like the rest of us.
The test is always the music, which, as you know, isn’t entirely about the notes.
March 13, 2020 @ 11:37 am
”Pro’s didn’t like Dylan, either. ”
yeah but if he hangs in I think this dylan guy will find a following too .
March 13, 2020 @ 11:59 am
does he have a website yet?
there’s no filter, no gatekeeper, no common standard — the music marketplace has been purged of nearly everything that stands between musician and listener — it’s a reboot
we are here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01GY7zYN-ps
March 13, 2020 @ 1:02 pm
great video.
here’s the thing . i can’t unlearn what i’ve learned , implemented and seen successfully put to the test after so many years of listening to , studying , understanding what works (and why) and being inspired and moved by people who have done the same regardless of genre .
the lack of gatekeepers and filters and the general wild-west-ness which defines today’s musical landscape …and , in particular mainstream ….. is , I believe , as much curse as blessing for too many reasons to elaborate on here . the glut of product has not only devalued the art-form by introducing too much inferior product but seems to have clouded our objectivity about it.
as a lifetime professional player , songwriter, performer , producer , music teacher and music student my concern is that the standards in ALL of those areas are maintained and that new listeners AND artists are always reminded of , directed to and understand WHY those standards exist . there are a lot of promising artists coming along . promising . but yet again i’ll paraphrase quincy jones .” too many new artists in these times haven’t done their homework ”. and I believe that’s because the lack of gatekeepers and filters means they don’t feel that they have to . standards slide , the art-form deteriorates ( as we’ve seen with ‘country’ radio ) and the bar gets lowered due , mostly , to ignorance. this scenario DEMANDS vigilance on the parts of folks who care .
March 13, 2020 @ 11:24 am
Just ordered his cd’s at his website. Screw the scolds and the skeptics.
This kid has heart.
March 13, 2020 @ 11:38 am
He reminds me so much of a dear friend, J. Chiu.
J., who i had the great honor of working with, out in the panhandle, came into the nuc., or reading room a couple times, and would sing a song.
Usually, this was when the hospital was in great turmoil (daily).
J. has such a beautiful voice & the way he would sing brought an instant smile, and unbelievable Peace.
March 13, 2020 @ 11:39 am
OlaR: A fine piece of work.
The SCM Choir: But?
OlaR: No but!
The SCM Choir: No but?
OlaR: No but!
The SCM Choir: But there is always a but…
OlaR: No!
The SCM Choir: OlaR must be ill.
OlaR: NO!
The SCM Choir:…
OlaR: Well…
The SCM Choir: No album highlights?
OlaR: Well…let’s see…”Heartbreaker’s Smile”, “Great Big River” & “Blue Ridge Goodbye”.
The SCM Choir: No new obscure music from Tasmania?
OlaR: Let me see…
Not Tassie but new & good:
Tris Munsick & The Innocents – Tris Munsick & The Innocents – EP (5 Tracks) – Released (03/12)
My highlights: “If Horses Had Wings” & “Roots”.
Graycie York – “Patsy Kind Of Night” – Single/Track – Released
Debut single. Traditional leaning. Sounds like a future hit (in Texas).
March 13, 2020 @ 11:54 am
This album is so good.
My one complaint with Farmland is that the songs other than Eveline didn’t have a huge amount of unique character–the instrumentation being so spare meant that there wasn’t a lot to differentiate them, and the good all blended together a little. Granted I didn’t listen to the album a bunch of times, but that is partly connected to that issue. There weren’t a lot of hooks there to keep me coming back, other than Eveline which I listened to a bunch.
That’s definitely not the case on this album. The songwriting is there, just like his first. The singing is just as good, and the emotion is just as real. I don’t know if there’s a song that hits quite as hard as Eveline (haven’t gotten through the whole album quite yet though), but the overall impact of the songs is greater.
This is going to be one of my go-to albums this year, I think.
March 13, 2020 @ 12:25 pm
Finished the album.
Oh man, it just keeps up with the good stuff, and then ends on an absolutely beautiful steel solo. The dobro across the album is fantastic too.
March 13, 2020 @ 1:00 pm
It’s not bad but not really grabbing me. I will revisit it at some point in 2020 to give it a fair shake . Quite the variety on it no doubt . I think the register of his voice ain’t for me though really .
March 13, 2020 @ 1:07 pm
if you’re serious about pursuing Country music diversity,Trigger,I’m an African Canadian Country lyricist.(And it’s SO COOL that Gabe Lee’s an Asian American.)
March 13, 2020 @ 2:11 pm
Strong album. Even better the second time around. Going right into my rotation.
March 13, 2020 @ 2:25 pm
Well I listened to Honky Tonk Hell and if you took the voice down a key or so I would compare it to a Charlie Starr vocal, and that’s high praise in my view! Much better than the previous album where I thought he was trying a little too hard on the John Prine style.
March 13, 2020 @ 2:54 pm
Is it OK if i tell the gentile, to shut the *uck up already
March 13, 2020 @ 7:36 pm
don’t know how the reply *utton works?
March 14, 2020 @ 3:27 pm
Dude, just admit you’re looking for a fight. Trigger was simply pointing out how unique it is to have someone of Asian descent making quality country music. If you don’t think that’s worth noting, go look at the Billboard top 100 in country and write down who’s not white.
Kane Brown is just about the only one. It’s noteworthy, like it or not.
I’m 100% certain Trig was not saying “wow, I’m shocked an Asian can actually make good music!” As much as he was CELEBRATING diversity.
Trigger always has and always will stand up for equality in music. Whether it’s gender, race, independent artists, or whatever it may be.
March 13, 2020 @ 3:12 pm
gabe is so talented, i was immediately hooked on honky tonk hell. LOVE IT and can’t wait to hear the rest of the album! thanks trigger!!
March 13, 2020 @ 4:42 pm
Listened to this twice at work today. Loved it! Wasn’t too fond of the dog song but even its not terrible
March 13, 2020 @ 5:14 pm
This album is amazing. Gabe Lee is a songwriter’s songwriter who also has universal appeal via strong vocals and catchy melody. He somehow managed to release a debut (and sophomore) album that sounds as seasoned as Prine, Knight, or Dylan, while being original and genuine at the same time. He could really teach a few (unnamed) artists a thing or two about how to properly expand their sonic palate without sounding remotely corny or over produced.
In short, Gabe is the real deal and I don’t tube a damn what country country his grandparents were born in.
March 13, 2020 @ 7:41 pm
*** In short, Gabe is the real deal and I don’t give a damn what county his grandparents were born in***
Corn squeezins got the better of my typing
March 13, 2020 @ 7:15 pm
Wow! All over the road, but I love it! EMMYLOU is absolutely beautiful! Thanks, Trigger, for a great review! Looking forward to buying this album…
March 13, 2020 @ 7:54 pm
Much more complete album then his last one. Love it!!
March 13, 2020 @ 11:24 pm
I think I enjoy “Farmland” more than this record but that’s like saying “I like a 100 dollar bill more than 5 20s”…. great record, amazing record.
Also, my favorite song on “Farmland” is “alright ok” which I don’t hear a lot of people mention.
March 14, 2020 @ 5:18 am
His voice reminds me of a mix of Prine and Paul Simon, in a good way. You don’t need a gruff voice to sing and perform great country. I like it!
March 14, 2020 @ 7:46 am
I don’t like his voice. Also, it sucks that a song called “Honky Tonk Hell” isn’t a honky tonk song.
March 14, 2020 @ 7:55 am
For my money “Eveline” is perhaps one of the better songs I have heard in the last 8/10 years. Amazing voice.
March 14, 2020 @ 12:02 pm
Farmland was one of my favorites last year, despite it sounding a bit more minimal and folky than I usually prefer.
So, been looking forward to Honky Tonk Hell. I was expecting and hoping for something more rockin’ and raucous, based on early promo for the album, but it’s still really good. A gem of an album.
Gabe Lee is one to watch, for sure. Yeah, it doesn’t really matter that he’s Asian-American but it is highly unusual in American roots music, and when the derisive stereotype of country and American roots music is that’s its the exclusive domain of white bumpkins, this is only a bonus.
In a time when this country is so politically, philosophically, and socially fractured, I can’t help but think this sort of diversity under the umbrella of, and in allegiance to, a quintessentially mongrel American musical art form is necessary. This art form is and was truly open to all, and it doesn’t take some flash in the pan charlatan like Lil’ Nas X to prove that point.
Too many people these days are too focused on all the things that make us different. All the things that divide us into different tribes. I think it’s time we focus on shared, universal experiences. At the risk of sounding clumsy and sentimental, that’s what country and American roots music is to me. Shared American experience, in musical form.
March 17, 2020 @ 5:01 am
A good record, thanks for the review.
March 18, 2020 @ 7:49 am
Not enough talk of Blue Ridge Goodbye, which blows everything else away. I really like don’t love his stuff. Blue Ridge Goodbye is a 10/10 song. I got chills when I heard it.
March 19, 2020 @ 7:22 am
“Honky Tonk Hell isn’t just a great record. It verifies that Gabe Lee will be one of the next great artists in country and roots music that we’ll hopefully be hearing plenty from and enjoying for years to come.”
Well, sure. That is until he makes a record that doesn’t fit exactly into the narrow musical definition so many have of what constitutes “country and roots” music. Or dares to express an opinion in his music that doesn’t hew exactly to the narrative that should be addressed in “country and roots” music. And then he will be just another egotistical sellout who has betrayed the good people of the heartland.
I’ve not heard this yet, but am really looking forward to doing so given the positive reivew by Trigger and others.
May 8, 2020 @ 9:52 pm
His voice is on par with Cash and Bare, just more of a tenor. I find it uniquely beautiful tbh
, it doesn’t have that “modern indie” sound (iykyk)
March 13, 2021 @ 12:21 am
I’m sure most people don’t give a shit that he’s Asian, and of course they will be surprised lol, there’s literally no Asian people doing this kind of music. That’s not bad or good, it’s normal to feel that way, how is that racist? Just politically correct people with condescending attitudes telling you what’s right or what’s wrong. Let me tell you, as an Asian guy, I’m fucking glad that there’s at least one guy out there doing this. I don’t like his music that much, maybe it’s his voice, but it doesn’t sound bad either.
To the reviewer: thanks for reviewing this, I’m obviously glad that an Asian American artist is having more visibility, but people here just love to pick fights. It is already weird to find fellow asian country fans where I live. THANK YOU.
Greetings from Worst Korea.