| ROLLING HAYSEEDS, �HOME SWEET HOME (REVISITED)� (RECORD CELLAR)*** The Rolling Hayseeds are a band from Philadelphia that have been playing since 1990. They released their first album, �Tangled up in you� in 1996. Now we have the more fully realized new collection �Home Sweet Home�, named after a Rodney Crowell song which they also cover on the album. This is almost a two-tone album of sorts with song-writing chores divided equally between Rick Kaufmann and Kevin Karg. Both of these guys are great songwriters, but it seems to me that they could have each recorded their own separate albums- both of which would have been equally good, though differing in style. Kaufmann�s songs are more pop oriented and Karg�s are more fully in the Alt-Country vein. Kaufmann�s �It�s starting to show� with it�s broken love lyrics and Americana flavored pop beat opens the album to good effect. Kaufmann�s songcraft shines on other cuts too, particularly �When it�s time to stop�. With it�s mix of Trumpets, accordion, congas, marimba and mezzo-soprano vocals, the song�s Tex-Mex Cha-Cha beat tells the tale of a fighting couple, where the female half just doesn�t know when to quit. Karg�s tunes have a more definitely pronounced country feel to them. You can tell he�s a fan of Waylon Jennings and the Bakersfield sound. �Wide awake� stands out with it�s Buck Owens feel and �Wooley thinking� is all Waylon. Karg�s �Fat chance� is the standout track for me. There�s lots of instruments used on this song, but they all work well together. You hear Banjo, Sitar and lapsteel as well as a horn section. �Fat chance is an epic Alt-country smorgasboard. The albums ends with two covers: one by Rodney Crowell -which is also the album title-and one by Waylon Jennings, which I�m sure Karg had a hand in choosing. The only sore-spots I noticed on the album were the throw-away �I�m thru� which just didn�t seem fully realized and the acoustic guitar on �if I were more like you� which just sounded too much like Glen Campbell�s �Gentle on my mind�. With it�s two great songwriters, melting -pot instrumentation and interesting lyrics and arrangements throughout , The Rolling Hayseeds have put together an appealing album which I certainly recommend to Alt-country fans everywhere. FROG HOLLER, �ADAMS HOTEL ROAD� (RECORD CELLAR)*** Left-handed acoustic guitar player and singer-songwriter Darren Schlappich leads his band with vigorous lyricism and down-home country styling that brings to mind a more interesting Son Volt with -out the �every song sounds alike� syndrome. Their laid-back instrumental exuberance and yin/yang songcraft lead the listener down a dirt-road of melancholy insight and kick-drum rock and roll that satisfies on several levels. One can hear the echoes of their beginnings as a blue-grass trio in �anytime soon�. As they expanded into a six-piece band, they kicked it up with more of a rock attitude that shows in the Skynyrd lite �hey boy� and also in �overtime�-a blue-collar blues anthem that begins with the sound effect of an engine turning over. Frog Holler�s Motto is �The song is the king� and if these Shoemakersville, PA native�s new album is any indication, we�ll be in store for more great music from a band that keeps Alt-country fresh and satisfying |