The fifteen songs and almost an hour’s worth of music on this album documents an enduring friendship dating from 1981 between Texas-born Allison and Spehar who comes from an old Colorado pioneer family. ‘Delta Man’ presents songs written together or apart over four decades.
The two started their musical careers at 18 and 19 respectively, Allison in Denver and Spehar all over Europe. The two first joined forces when their bands broke up in 1985 and they subsequently played The Grand Ole Opry to put them on the Nashville map.
A year later, however, Spehar quit performing and take a job in Los Angeles to raise a family while Allison pressed on establishing a non-stop performing career in casinos and gaming towns, from Deadwood in the Black Hills of South Dakota to the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
When Spehar’s family were full grown, he resumed serious music making and made a series of well received solo albums. He also teamed up with his old buddy, Allison and this album celebrates the fruits of this revived collaboration.
On Rockin’ on a Country Dance Floor, Allison sings “I’m country from my Stetson to my toes” and you never doubt the veracity of this self-assessment for a second. The duo play honky tonk and crooning ballads pretty straight although they also dip their toes in the blues and rockabilly (notably on Bubba Billy Boom Boom & Me).
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In 2005, the devastation of Hurricane Katrina meant Allison was forced to temporarily take refuge with Spehar in LA. The nostalgic Balmorhea and the dreamy Eye of the Needle were written and recorded on that visit, and later enhanced for this album by Erinn Bone (Eye of the Needle), Gabe Witcher (Balmorhea) with further support from Paul Lacques and Paul Marshall. These two tracks stand out from the rest of the collection in that they seem more personal and individual. It’s a pity that they didn’t make a whole album out of these sessions alone.
As it stands, the album is respectfully traditional to the core and, as such, will mainly appeal to those who like their country music plain and simple.
Gerry Spehar’s website
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