Summer is in full swing and with it comes joys of outdoor Murfreesboro, of course. There are many options this fair town provides. Some of the good days may involve a bike ride, jog or picnic on a sunny day; maybe a delicious dinner and libations in a favorite establishment. Maybe even a celebratory bonfire in a back yard surrounded by some very fine folks.
If the latter is part of one’s relaxation on a clear Murfreesboro night, local country and Americana singer/songwriter Levi Massie is one to sing along with while winding down a productive evening, around the bon, with his sophomore album, Angels Around My Barstool, released through Cedarpepper Productions and Four Leaf Studios last year. The 10-track LP is pretty nice playing from a nearby truck’s stereo, if not live.
Massie’s sophomore album, following his 2010 debut, Sunrise and Cigarettes, is his latest testament in the vein of Townes Van Zandt, comparable as well to the recently Grammy-nominated John Fullbright. Massie’s album consists of six talented Middle Tennessee musicians: Massie on the acoustic guitar/lead vocals, accompanied by upright bassist, drummer, and producer, Sammy Baker, Steve McGraw on electric guitar, Nashville studio musician Tony Paoletta, violinist Vicky Kremer, and backing vocalist Paige Crockett. The album is lyrically co-written by Frank Moore and Billy Plant III. As Levi Massie, et. al., have been relentlessly throughout the town for the past couple of years, it would be kind of hard to miss his act, or at least a big sign with his name on it at the venues he plays.
With that, highlights of Angels . . . are recognizable from the live shows, such as the leading track “Adios (The Hills of Tennessee),” “Don’t Curse Your Lonesome Bone,” “Don’t Count on Me Darlin’,” and the finale title track, “Angels Around My Barstool,” are all a little more sped and amped up than in his live shows, and very much worth the listen. There may even be a new hidden track in the LP somewhere. Other songs, such as “Hunter Wayne and the Pinstriped Suit,” could lyrically be on a Tom Waits’ record, had Waits’ been sedated and chosen a fiddle, or acoustic six-string, instead of his piano. One that Massie is particularly proud of, “Nonsense (Is What I Talk When You’re Not Around),” was, according to a past Pulse article, written from the back of a truck.
Though heavier than Sunrise and Cigarettes in terms of production value, Angels Around my Barstool, stylistically speaking, is another optimistically forlorn croon of women, good friends and booze—exactly what one needs around the relaxing bonfire late at night.
Angels Around My Barstool is available through ITunes, CDbaby and Amazon and in physical form at any of Massie’s live shows. For more information, visit facebook.com/levi.w.massie.
