The Secret Commonwealth, longtime fixtures on the Murfreesboro music scene—particularly for their traditional St. Patty’s Day show at The Boro—have been playing music in some lineup or another since 1993. Now, the lineup consists of Troy Guinn, Rob Campbell, Uncle Don Clark and Franko Hashiguchi, and they just released Last Call, a 13-track LP.

Produced to a polish at Stu-Stu-Studio and Paradox Productions by Seth Timbs, Brian Carter and Jeremy Dickens collectively, Last Call is a musical book of folk tales alive with poetry, love, tragedy, wartime and adventure. They’re songs written for story’s sake, beginning with “Man Overboard,” a twittering Celtic ditty penned by Seth Timbs, followed by “The Lion’s Breath,” on which Guinn’s vocals spin out gold, glowing, pristine and resonant, like a more rustic Neil Diamond. It’s an old folk ballad fit for a dusty anthology with a spindly, sweet and tangible tune.

“Til Jamie Comes Hame” is a traditional narrative ballad for any fan of musical storytelling from “Geordie” to “Hurricane”; it’s percussive and swept through with Franko Hashiguchi’s whistle. “Dubhachas (I’ll Dream of Times Like This)” is flowery, sparkling, sugary and wistful; “Springtime Unknown” soars and Malin Timbs’ vocals are smoother than caramel in the ghost-story-like “In the Old Ruins.”

“Field of Bannockburn” is a battle tale abuzz with bagpipes from Julian Gomez, sweeping with Rebecca Mogey’s fiddle and kicking with Rob Campbell’s looming snare. But “One Shot,” written and sung by Don Clark, is perfection, piercing through a thick Southern darkness with his banjo picking as he sings: Well this ol’ world is like a graveyard/And it hurts me in my heart/Hurts me in my heart/One shot, just one shot/I can set down my heavy load. Ditto for the Halloweenish fright tale “Scarecrow Walking”: Daddy’s coat and Uncle’s britches/An old owl’s nest and a bale of straw/Floppy hat, rope suspenders/A pumpkin’s face and a devil’s claw.

“Isle of Man” is an acoustic number that pairs watery electric guitar with tin whistle, while “My Highlander” is a story of love lost to war. The record finishes with “All These Years,” a bittersweet tune, more Southern folk than Celtic folk, with an uplifting farewell: And you can leave if there’s something up your arse/But pour my liquid deep/For I won’t be soon to sleep/Cause none of my dreams are half as fun as this!

Keep listening for a hidden country tune that follows after a long pause at the end of track 13.

Find more on The Secret Commonwealth at tscband.com.