Lowe Country – The Songs of Nick Lowe Fiesta Red Records***

Nick Lowe’s easy affinity with country music is a musical curio, albeit one that has delivered much pleasure in his entertaining but weighty reflections on life’s curved balls. While his dapper London persona would seem at odds with stetson culture, Lowe’s pithy observations and mordant wit, plus his encyclopedic knowledge of American music, makes him a worthy recipient of this countryish tribute.

Many of the songs are taken from his early, rockier years: Amanda Shires goes all detached with I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass; Hayes Carll knocks sport out of (I’m Gonna Start) Living Again If It Kills Me; and Erin Enderlin lights a torch for a despairing Lover Don’t Go. The rest is reasonable if not inspired (one wonders whether everybody gets the jokes), with the notable exception of Ron Sexsmith’s reading of Where Is My Everything?

Download tracks:(I'm Gonna Start) Living Again If It Kills Me, Where Is My Everything?