One of the region’s top country/honky-tonk bands, Western Centuries, follow their excellent 2018 LP Songs from the Deluge with their third release Call the Captain, a 12-song collection of bluegrass, honky-tonk, and traditional country filled with contemporary themes and issues. The Seattle band is comprised of three core members Cahalan Morrison, Ethan Lawton and Jim Miller, all independently seasoned musicians with Morrison and Lawton connecting through the Seattle Americana/roots scene and Miller joining them after 20 years with Donna The Buffalo. For Call the Captain, each member wrote songs based on their shared belief about making music as a process of “collaboration, inspiration and mutual admiration”, making the title a sardonic play on the band’s lack of hierarchical structure. Notable tracks include: the funky country groove of “Lifeblood Sold”; the honky-tonk piano driven “Sarah and Charlie”; the somber, soulful track “Barcelona Lighthouse”; the humorous Jim Lauderdale featured “Space Force”; “Long Dreadful Journey” which skewers the damage brought in the name of religion; and the traditional country tune “Dynamite Kid.” The Western Centuries never disappoint and that is certainly true of Call The Captain – another superb album in the band’s discography. – Written by JFelton
SIMILAR | Garrett T. Capps, Charley Crockett, Caleb Caudle, JP Harris, Jeremy Pinnell