John Surge and The Haymakers - Maybe You Don’t Know Me EP (2024) Hi-Res

The critically acclaimed alt-country band with a well-known following in the L.A. Country music community unfolds a more pensive country-folk EP by asking listeners that Maybe You Don’t Know Me.

Produced by Tommy Detamore (Doug Sahm, Jim Lauderdale) in Floresville, TX these 5 new tunes didn’t make their last album but are staples in their high-octane live sets. There are dips into honky-tonk, tight instrumental interplay, rollicking music with colorful topics & a Tex-Mex feel.

There are some tears in the beer heartland songs, a revival of the late John Stewart’s “Gold” (that featured Stevie Nicks backup vocals) that’s now made even more Americana-oriented than it originally was. Risky to cover a song that has a distinctive vocalist as Stewart but Surge’s turn on the classic “Gold,” revives the tune respectably. A nice catch-up showcase.

There’s a warm blend in their showcase with a country-infused John Cafferty & Beaver Brown, Georgia Satellites, Sawyer Brown, The Rockets (“Desire”) & Eddie & the Tide type prominence. I like this kind of melodic approach. It has enthusiasm that’s not dipped in corniness & it just sounds like they enjoy what they do.

There are many musicians involved in these individual pieces but John Surge’s driving vocals & acoustic guitar on the Tex-Mex ripple of “Marisol” will lasso your ears tight & pull you in. Michael Guerra opens the flues on his accordion, Randy Volin ignites the electric guitar & Ted Lewis pounds the skins. It’s also all danceable & about as cool as drinking icy cold well water on a humid August day. There aren’t many tunes on this EP but it’s a nice introduction to musicians that play with fun & authority.