Do you happen to remember the piece I wrote on an Ohio band called Roger Hoover and The Whiskeyhounds? I wrote about their album Panic Blues. I loved that album so much and had really high hopes for their next album, but each subsequent album from the band featured a new name (nowadays they’re The Magpies ) and an increasingly bland sound.

Enter Old Union.

The moment I heard them I thought, “this is what Roger Hoover and the Whiskeyhounds follow-up was supposed to sound like.” Where one band falters, another steps up. So, here we have Old Union, another band from Nashville that plays music that could have easily sat in the Capricorn Records catalog. With their dual guitars and their road-weary lyrics, one has to wonder which way they’re headed. I once touted Roger Hoover as a band holding it down for the Southern rock long haul, only to watch them (him?) chase commercial success to the point of becoming boring. Can Old Union be comfortable enough in their own skin to keep punching out awesome music, or will they get the itch and chase money into total crapitude.

Personally, I hope they chase their hearts. We need another Fire on the Mountain.

Keep it up guys.

Old Union – Motels & Highways
Old Union – Ragged Blue
Old Union – Deadline

Old Union’s Official Site, Old Union on myspace, Buy Motels and Highways