Singer/songwriter Danny Epps (http://www.penstarmusic.com) has a voice that crackles like the Old South. Probably the biggest difference between a youngster singing about heartache and loss and a man who has already lived life is the weight of experience that you hear in his throat.
On the cleverly titled "Rumors of the Truth," Epps fesses up about relationships gone sour, hating his job, and not having enough pot. It's the kind of dirty country blues that Nashville doesn't want you to hear, the type of outlaw roots music that Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson used to turn into hits. Well, that was before Nashville cleaned up its acts and started courting suburban chicks with pretty-faced mannequins and superficial pop songs with a twang.
On the opening track, "The Beast," Epps comes out roaring from the gate with a stinging anti-war dark-folk anthem. Originally written about the Vietnam War, it disturbingly applies to today's headlines. With vocals reminiscent of Bruce Springsteen (at least on this song), Epps laments the loss of young soldiers in the battlefield, just people who are trying to stay alive.
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For the most part, though, "Rumors of the Truth" is not political. Women - good, bad, wicked in bed - are a particularly favorite topic for him. On "I Need a Bad Woman Bad," probably the best tune on the record, Epps sounds horny as hell, can't hardly wait to strip it off and hop into the sack with an equally randy chick. This is real country music, folks; no sense of false sweetness here. Epps is telling it like it is.
For all the candid carnal expressions of "I Need A Bad Woman Bad," Epps is an effective hopeless romantic, too, as evidenced by the sincere longing of "I Danced on the Moon," which is stunningly beautiful, and the Willie Nelson-ish ballad "Tears from the Heart."
"Rumors of the Truth" arrived just in time to make my Top-10 list of 2005.
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