MIKE HUGHES
To Make An Angel Cry
Alright I’ll Sign The Papers – Country Girl –
Heart Over Mind – I Just Came To Get My Baby Out of Here – Ramblin Man –
Nobody Writes A Country Song – Better That Way – The Souths Gonna Do It
Again – Playboy – Time and Patience – To Make An Angel Cry
It was a remarkable experience for me to meet
Mike Hughes at the Macon, Missouri, old-time country and bluegrass
festival that takes place every year over Labor Day weekend. Mike is a
close relative to an old friend of mine, Cyril Stinnet. I used to play
12-string guitar behind Cyril, and had a great time, simply because he
was the best fiddler in America around that same time. Mike Hughes is
carrying on that excellent ‘real’ country music tradition, and on this
super neat CD he uses both fiddle and steel to ‘keep it country,’ two of
the elements that are now rarely heard in commercial country music.
Aubrey Haynie plays the fiddle on this CD, and Eddie Lange is on the
steel. These two guys will let you know that this kind of
instrumentation is still alive and well, and more, sounding better than
ever. Mike has a super voice exactly suited to this kind-of-Texas style
of country honky-tonk music, even though he makes his home in Missouri.
He recorded this excellent ‘sound from the past’ at the Hilltop Studios
with John Nicholson doing the engineering. Yes, Mr. Nicholson ‘knows’
what to look for and how to place it in the mix. Excellent job well
done. Dirk Johnson is on piano adding a little Texas honky-tonk sound
to the overall mix, and Kelly Back holds his own on electric guitar.
Lonnie Wilson is on drums, and doesn’t drown out the pickers or the
vocalist, super well done. Joel Key on acoustic guitar adds the just
right ‘string’ sound. It’s the ‘real-deal’ honky-tonk style with a
little Missouri ‘spirit’ thrown in to make it a little better. Mike
Hughes is well known in the world of music, you can find a really nice
video out with him singing with Rhonda Vincent and Moe Pitney on Larry’s
Country Diner show. Rhonda Vincent lives just a few miles north of
where Mike was appearing at the first Macon, Missouri, Country &
Bluegrass Festival, where I got to hear him in person. He’s as good
live as he is on recordings, and this one is going to find it’s way to
the Rural Roots Music Commission while I still have time to get it to
them. It makes me so disappointed that ‘country music’ on the charts is
so lacking in a ‘country’ sound. But perhaps ‘control’ is what that is
all about. Control of not only the artist but the music itself. It was
a pleasure to meet and talk to Mike Hughes about music and his
involvement in it. Nice going young man, super good CD.
RECORD REVIEW BY: Bob Everhart, President, National Traditional Country Music Assn. www.music-savers.com for Country Music News International Magazine & Radio Show