Aside from essentially having two first names, BOB WAYNE and CHARLIE DANIELS have a lot in common. Both share an affection for the banjo and the fiddle, a slightly nasal vocal delivery, and a robust storytelling style. As for Wayne, his fourth album OUTLAW CARNIE just hit stores via Century Media, and is something worth a listen.
Carrying on a tradition of “Outlaw Country” made famous by the likes of Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams Jr., and Willie Nelson, Bob Wayne finds himself going from hustling CD-r’s from the back of his car to the national stage. With songs like “Mack,” the story of a truck driver that finds himself mixed up with the wrong crowd, “Love Songs Suck,” with it’s classic pedal steel lead, and “Chatterbox” with it’s tales of questionable women (including one “that did the whole damn band”), OUTLAW CARNIE takes a pure, yet somewhat tongue-in-cheek look at American life – specifically that of life on the road.
There’s an interesting moment near the half-way mark in which “Ghost Town” uses the ghost of JOHNNY CASH as a plot device, with The Man in Black coming into play to save a few lives. On the very next track, Wayne channels the vocal delivery of CASH on “Reptile” in a not-so-subtle tribute.
Closing things out is “2012,” an end of the world tale that may or may not indicate a belief in the Mayan prophecy that the world will implode sometime next year. If that’s the case, that certainly doesn’t bode well for record sales… but as stated, “Maybe 2012 ain’t the end at all, but a new beginning for us all…”
Rating: 3/5
