Album Review: Shotgun Holler 'Loaded'

The five some that make up Shotgun Holler - Shawn Brock (mandolin/harmony vocals), Matt Jones (guitar/lead vocals), Rod Lunger (bass/harmony vocals), Nathan Treadway (banjo), and Alex Benefiel (fiddle/harmony vocals) - are not your typical bluegrass players. They cover Miley Cyrus, have tattoos and aren’t given to sporting retro looks, but none of this should give you pause. The up and coming bluegrass band has incredible harmonies and keen instrumentation, both of which can be found on their debut album, Loaded, which was released on Dry Lightning Records in September.

Loaded, produced by Jim Van Cleve, consists of eleven tracks that mix unexpected covers with three Jones penned originals – “I've Got Ramblin’ On My Mind,” “Miners Grave” and “One Lone Tree”. The songs are vivid portrayals of all of the aspects of life - the good and notably, the bad, as Shotgun Holler are not afraid to tackle less than sunny subject matter.

The songs they put their unique take on are decidedly not typical choices, particularly Son Volt’s somber “Methamphetamine,” and Jason Isbell’s tale of struggle, “Relatively Easy.” They also take on the classic “My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It” and Guy Clark and Darrell Scott's "Out In The Parking Lot," which is given the Shotgun Holler stamp with an up-tempo, feel good melody.

Although Shotgun Holler is instrumentally traditional, they have an originality that pushes genre boundaries in a good direction. Pull the trigger and give Loaded a listen or two.

Listen to "Out In The Parking Lot" here

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