Reviewed by Andy Shaw

Brian Houston is a veteran of the music scene with over 25 albums to his credit and he has enjoyed great success in that time, sharing the stage with some of the biggest names in music including Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Robert Plant and Chuck Berry. This album is a truly independent and home-grown effort, recorded in a bedroom with no air conditioning in the height of summer with the whole process of recording and releasing completed in less than a month. Whilst the instrumentation is simple, mainly with just vocal and acoustic guitar, depth is created by using multiple vocal tracks to build up layers of harmony. The influences on this record are an interesting blend of the local country music to Houston's North Carolina home mixed with the Irish folk drawing on his roots. Both of these influences require the art of telling stories through song and Houston shows his skill for doing just that from the mournful reflections of "Still In Love With You" and "Fifty Days" to the more upbeat, lilting rhythm of "Preacher Man". This album sounds like what it was, a home-recorded self-produced album with no bells and whistles but showing off the craft of a great songwriter.

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