What seems like another lifetime ago, Greg Loftus was my barroom buddy, my pint glass companion, singing songs together at our favorite local dive to the blue collar, beer thirsty crowd that was only half listening and would occasionally yell out “know any Boss tunes?”…to which, we would reply with an extended version of ‘Atlantic City’.

Well, Greg has been down in Austin for a number of years now. His band, aptly named, Carpetbagger still focuses on Loftus’s blue collar, working class style of writing but has some country frayed edges, twangy goodness, and a full band behind the stories. It’s f*cking awesome. I even got a chance to visit a number of years back on tour and share a couple days with my old friend, his band, and his adopted home city of Austin, Texas. It was hazy, but a damn wonderful time.

The recordings, just release, by the band is filled with barroom laments, sonic brawling, good times curated from the bad times kind of tunes. Raucous, rowdy, but always with a great story behind them. I urge you to put a dollar…or 6…in their hat and get this latest release from the fellas. It’s well worth your time and money.