Billy Hubbard put out a self-titled, 10 track album. Billy is a producer and co-host of a podcast called “My Backstage Pass.” On this album, Billy goes on to join up with Charlie McCoy, Shawn Camp, and Bethany Jean Smith. Together they bring back that timeless country sound with their ole southern voices and lyrics.
Throughout the whole album, Bill shows the world he knows his way around a guitar. He goes on to have many solos and each one is more impressive than the one before it. Billy has some of the smoothest transitions into and out of his solos. This and the solos themselves showcase his versality with the axe.
Billy starts off this album, with a calm and relaxing song “Castin Away My Blues.” As the song went on playing, all I kept thinking about was how it reminded me of Jimmy Buffet. Billy goes on to state “a lot of fish in the deep blue sea,” stating that he’s moving on and Castin’ away his blues.” It’s a song about just moving on and healing. He goes on to keep it slow and steady with “Civil War Letters.” This song features Charlie McCoy and Shawn Camp. The choice of instruments keeps the sadness and tempo going. I’m a huge sucker for a violin, so pairing it with Charlie McCoy on his harmonica was spot on. Billy’s impressive lyrics in this song are priceless and sound like an old war letter.
Halfway through the album, Billy throws in a more upbeat song with track number six, “Mighty Low.” Billy teams up with Bethany and Charlie again in this song. Bethany and Billy sing back and forth as if a conversation is happening. Their voices pair well throughout the whole song. The song brings back the old country basics with this ballad.
By track nine, Billy has turned the tempo back down. “I Think Of You,” has such a Tom Petty vibe with the structure and overall feeling. Billy tops everything off with “Goodbye Waltz.” This ends the album with one last slow romantic goodbye dance. It was such a great way for Billy to end his self-titled album. Overall, Billy’s album brought you back to old basic country. Anyone looking for that in today’s music space is in for a treat here. The instrument choices were spot on, and the musicians featured were fantastic. Billy kept it country and continues to be an amazing guitarist!
Written by Ryan Drake
