Sour Bridges - Down and Out (2024)

Sour Bridges are releasing a new album Down and Out, which continues their hybrid blend of bluegrass and roots rock songs. Their ingredients blend into a stew of just plain out good music. They have solidified their band with Marc Randal Henry as a rock drummer alongside the self-taught Pucci brothers (Bill and Matt) on guitars, mandolin and banjo, and Will Vaughan on bass, and they continue their noteworthy “porch-pickin'” sensibilities on this new release.

“Down and Out” starts the album off strong, with a foot tapping beat and the banjo and mandolin instantly whirling. “you feel a pain growing deep down inside where only the lonely survive.” There’s a step down to the vocal sequencing and the instruments almost song a little like world music, except for the constant bluegrass reminders.

“Tighten Up” displays the band’s roots rock underpinnings, with a steady drum and pedal steel and a crescendo and “thinking about the night before with you.” “Have You Seen My Baby” veers back down the more bluegrassy path, and you can see the fields waving in the soft breeze. “have you seen my baby? Have you seen my gal?”

“Texas Man” highlights the band’s lovely harmonies. In some ways, this song is the heart of the album. “Stick with me baby I’m your Texas man / I been gone away too long sending you these words on the phone and the meaninglessness of it all /I can’t wait ‘til the morning breaks to spend the night with you and I can’t keep walking out.”

“A Pair of Arms” hits the nail on the head lyrically with this line about what happens when you’ve been broken up with: Each night I go out drinking / I come home from the lounge I fall into your memory every time I pass your house / I know you’ve got another man I know you’re moving on / but I’m just waiting patiently for him to break your heart.” Yep.

Matt plays the mandolin and Bill plays left-handed banjos (4 of his banjos were custom built by their grandfather). The band members call the band brown grass – “bluegrass but a little bit dirtier.” We concur. Sometimes it’s grassy, and sometimes it’s rootsy, and most often it’s just a sweet mixture of both.