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Reflecting on your high school days can be one of life’s most painful experiences. But from another perspective, it’s a journey through a time when the world was opening up, and you could be stupid and silly without much regard for the consequences. Suspended in time, Tobacco City‘s Horses examines running free to the sound of pedal steel guitars and the timeless vibrations of youth, looking back with a sense of bemusement that comes with growing up and having to deal with a world that you can never go back to again.
While the summer days stretched out endlessly, Chris Coleslaw and Lexi Goddard – the singers and guitarists at the heart of this band, have conjured up an album that not only deals with the ghosts of their youth but is a soundtrack fixed on musical forces like Gram and Emmy Lou, the Flying Burritos and The Everly Brothers. Classic country merges with modern-day metaphors, generating nostalgia and a few new twists on cosmic Americana, especially during the short ambient interludes of Horses I, II, III featuring guest musicians Matthew J Rolin on guitar and Jen Powers on hammered dulcimer.
The opening notes of Autumn establish a dynamic that’s hard to ignore, combining memories of huffing gas with a chorus that reveals how times have changed as Coleslaw sings, “I never knew about leaving.” Cutting to the bone, it reveals just how much times have changed. There’s a sadness that comes from looking back and realizing how free people are when they don’t realize what comes next. That gets even clearer on Bougainvillea, picturing life when recklessness and stupidity went hand in hand. Age may make us smarter, but somehow, it does nothing to leaven the joy and sorrow of days gone by.
Like the hand on a clock, Time ticks forward, lost in a daze of steel guitar. Keeping track of living in the moment while taking time to savour the experience. The duet between Goddard and Coleslaw in the chorus is a thing of beauty, voices soaring and intertwining, making love to each note and phrase. Taking her time, Goddard imbues Fruit from the Vine with both sorrow and soul. The band knows how to amp things up, Buffalo burns with steel guitar and drums, kicking the song into high gear before ending with a snippet of Home on the Range.
Echoes of The Band inhabit the opening to Blue Deja Vu before Tobacco City tints it with moaning steel guitar until a wistful country sound emerges. Like a man trying to get a grip on the DTs, Mr. Wine pulses with purpose, even if it’s just the need to get a buzz on to take the edge off, “Well, I’m walking down the sidewalk trying to find a switch I could slip on/I’ve got something in my heart I never could quite get a grip on/ I have something in my pocket and it’s burning a hole in my mind/I’ve gotta get a move on, the liquor store closes at nine.”
Time, tinged with sadness, refills the bottle that originally held joy without despair as Tobacco City reemerges with Horses, an album filled with music burnished with classic country yet charged with a power and purpose for today.
Horses (7th March 2025) Scissor Tail Records
Pre-Order via Bandcamp: https://tobaccocity.bandcamp.com/album/horses
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