Drunken Prayer comes up with an album any Americana fan can call their own, drunk or sober.
How would one categorise “modern Americana’? A straw poll might elicit a myriad of answers from the millions of Americana fans out there but ‘The Name of the Ghost is Home’, the latest album by Drunken Prayer, might just unify many of them. Why might that be? Well, Morgan Geer, the man who is Drunken Prayer, has taken elements from the great and the good of Americana music. You can hear the influences of the likes of Merle Haggard and others from the original country outlaws gang (‘Sweetheart Of the Picketline’), Dan Penn channelled through Jeff Tweedy (‘Oasis in the Yard’), The Band (‘She’s a Heart’) plus other legendary figures. Yet, throughout the ten tracks, Geer maintains his own sound using these influences to enhance, rather than dominate, his original work. Most notable is ‘She’s a Heart’ with its strong, heavy guitar line which elevates and lifts the song to another level.
There is excellent backup from Greg Williams playing percussion and Alex McMahon on synth and pedal steel guitars (both Handsome Family). Aaron Price is on piano, J.J. Tourville plays the fiddle (Deslondes) and Eric Slick (Dr. Dog) is on electric keys. It is produced by Paul Oldham (Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Royal Trux) and the combined result is a truly satisfying album that will appeal to many Americana devotees.
