Jeremy Wallace - She Used To Call Me Honey (2006)

Jeremy Wallace's second CD is a bubbly collection of losers & low-rent bluesers. While the sound quality is a bit on the homemade side, the music bubbles relentlessly. "Stephanie's Kitchen" with Wallace on dobro has a lot of bounce per ounce, "I got an ax here for choppin', a cast iron skillet for pan fryin' possum, some cigarettes, a banjo & some dirty magazines." "Cold October" slows down with Wallace's voice in perpetual drawl that falls somewhere between Tom Waits & a gravel road with what is a complex lyric and a catchy tune, "Down at Jack's, Mary Lou's unattached & she's workin' & something inside of you dies each time that she smiles cause she laughs at your jokes & she drinks & she smokes; she's just lovely, but you know all too well that you're just not her style; and though you hardly know her, you'd give all you've got if only you could hold her in a cold October." Wallace does a poppin' rendition of the traditional "Samson & Delilah" that'd make Chris Smither envious with its bouncing good-time feel. You'd almost think Wallace was singing about a joyful event until you listen to the lyric. "Violin Road" mines the territory Wallace did so well on his first CD with the classic track "Johnny." It's a slow blues, long on moan and dreams bashed to bits by time & a bottle, "A second-hand sofa & a color TV; And if it was alright with baby it was alright with me." "Falling in Love" starts with the vocals processed like a modern day Rudy Valle doing a Leon Redbone benefit. Wallace's CD isn't even on a record label with the listing just being the artist's name & dot com. For an independent release, it shows great brilliance. This is a superb effort by an artist who deserves to be followed. Enjoy!