Sons of the San Joaquin

Shanachie

Brothers Jack and Joe Hannah and Joe’s son Lon continue their musical evocation of mythic America in this release, built around nine originals from Jack Hannah. Hannah is a superb writer, able to echo the exquisite melodic structures of groups such as the Sons of the Pioneers while writing story-songs like "Charlie and the Boys" that brim with inventive internal and end rhymes. The Sons also sing beautiful paeans to the splendid geographies of Montana and California; Hannah explores the darker underside of the mythic West in the title song, with its sorrow for the lost buffalo and wolves wiped out by pioneers and cowboys, and covers of Bob Nolan’s "Still Water Pool" and Stuart Hamblen’s "Texas Plains" serve as heartfelt tributes. All of this is captured in the trio’s trademark soaring harmonies, with outstanding instrumental support from Rich O’Brien on guitars and Mark Abbot on bass.