Wylie and the Wild West | Hang-n-Rattle!

Published: July 15, 2009

Wylie Gustafson, the long-legged cowboy yodeler with deep Montana roots, has released a 14th album with the Wild West. Produced by John Carter Cash of the legendary Cash family, it covers the gamut of all-things cowboy.  

That means western. Also, sweeping vistas and wide-open spaces, and above all, rodeo, rendered in the inimitable Wylie style. However, liner notes reveal Wylie’s unabashed love for the music of his youth, covering way more than just country. He soaked up rock ’n roll, folk and blues music, too, from some of the finest songwriters ever, and those styles underlay his gritty song poems.

Seven tunes are co-written with cowboy poet Paul Zarzyski. The title song, for one: “Hang ’n Rattle” is a no-nonsense, spooky rodeo song, wherein “the rough-stock gods don’t suffer no fools.” Then, “If You Love Me” lopes in, a wistful love song with some trademark wahoo-ing from Wylie.

Gorgeous fiddle opens “A Pony Called Love,” soft and hymn-like; and “Double Wild,” is a talkin’ blues about two motorbike travelers (“She’s a Mescalero Indian, he’s full-blooded Paladin”) roaring around the West.

“I Get High” is Wylie’s tribute to the western landscape he loves so much – an affection he likens to an addictive elixir. He also honors the late country songwriting great (and fellow rodeo cowboy) Chris LeDoux on “Cravin’ 8s (Tribute to LeDoux),” a driving tune with a bumpin’ guitar riff.

There’s the clippity-clopper “To Ride!” and the final cut, “Cryin’ Hole Blues,” cranks out the agony of finishing just one place out of the money in a rodeo.

Wylie covers lots of ground here, mixing vivid storytelling and vocals with stellar accompaniment and plenty of cool guitar. Add in the seamless production, shorn of clutter, and the result is another fine effort.

Visit www.wyliewebsite.com.

– Mariss McTucker