Rick Shea
Sweet Bernadine
Tres Pescadores

www.rickshea.com
 

Folk-styled troubadour Rick Shea grew up in San Bernadino, an old Southern California railroad town, and cut his teeth in the truck-stop bars and honky-tonks there, honing his skill as a hauntingly nostalgic vocalist, imperative guitarist and literate, detail-rich songwriter. Particularly the latter. This ten track project veers from his memory-laden “Mexicali Train” and the episodic “John Shea From Kenmare” (a fascinating tale of Shea’s great-great grandfather from County Kerry and his imprisonment during the Civil War) to the atmospheric “Mariachi Hotel” (about a venerable hostel in the Boyle Heights section of East Los Angeles that mariachi musicians frequented) and the laid-back, pedal steel-guitar laced “Time To Say Goodbye.” A pair of stirring covers – Hank Williams’ “Honky Tonk Blues” and Roy Acuff’s “Streamline Cannonball” – highlight Shea’s country-rocking roots. Throughout, the arrangements are spare and straightforward, based on acoustic guitar, accordion, bass, mandolin and drums with brushes, though Shea does pick up his trusty Telecaster on a few numbers. If you’re a fan of the likes of Dave Alvin, Tom Russell or Ry Cooder, do yourself a favor and give this one a listen.

— Gary von Tersch