This Wednesday the Fiddle-driven alt-country quartet, “New Country Rehab” will be releasing their new album, “Ghost of Your Charms,” at the legendary Club Passim. It’s a busy week for me, focused on getting stuff out for NFF, but I was lucky enough to get a chance to give a listen to the record before hand, so read on ahead and see what you are in for. As a first listen, I chose the tune “Lizzy Died of a Broken Heart”.

Where most “soldier at war, lover at home” songs take the sad, melancholy approach, New Country Rehab provides a new and uptempo take on an old tradition. Quick and constant fiddle playing throughout, a very “story song” structure, and sensible other parts make for a good tumble and stomp kind of a track. A guaranteed foot thumping and head bobbing will be had when listening along to this track. The track pushes along, with nice breaks for firey, but tasteful fiddle parts, and the song moves up and down (both with the storyline and sound dynamics) to really take the listener on a trip. The story is simple but effective, guy goes to war, lady left at home, both miss one another…relatable, but with a great story line.

The singer’s voice fits the bill perfectly for this. A half spoken narrative track , but with a nice timbre when necessary, show that John Showman is a resourceful frontman and can keep an audience entertained for the long haul. This will be an interesting show to take in. The band seems to have an energy that will really get a crowd going and keep them reeling from the performance long after the music stops.

Here’s all the info you need…see you there!

Wednesday, July 24, 2013
NEW COUNTRY REHAB
With Betse Ellis
Cambridge, MA
Club Passim
47 Palmer St.
Show at 8pm, Tickets $13/$15
Ticket Link: http://tickets.passim.org/ordertickets.asp?p=3252