The Red Dirt Skinners
Album: Home Sweet Home
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.reddirtskinners.com

You may well know The Red Dirt Skinners better by their previous name, Something Blue, in fact this album, "Home Sweet Home" was supposed to have been released under that name, like their previous releases, but having done all the hard work, all the publicity and all the artwork under that name, a name dispute broke out and The Red Dirt Skinners had to be born.

The Red Dirt Skinners, Rob and Sarah Skinner, have subsequently pulled out all the stops to make sure that they get this album to you and as you can see from the sleeve pictured above, it's something they've achieved under a great deal of pressure. Something else they've achieved is a damned fine album.

Starting with a basic mix of blues, old timey and good old fashioned rock 'n' roll, Red Dirt Skinners infuse that with a spicy blend of well thought out lyrics, some great melodies and the occasional bit of humour thrown in for good measure, check the album sign off proper "The Neighbour's Rooster" for a song with genuine wit. This is an album with a bonus track so it's followed by a cover of John Prine's "Other Side Of Town"

Musically the duo split the duties clearly, Rob deals with strings and percussion, Sarah contributes the blown instruments and they share the vocal duties between them, it leads to album that can easily take in the slower and at times more sultry numbers as well as the more uptempo numbers, banjo and sax driving those numbers.

There is plenty to recommend "Home Sweet Home" this is good Americana, well arranged and full of life. The vocals are strong and there's a real dynamic between them. The Red Dirt Skinners have delivered a strong and, importantly, entertaining. The whole feels like it's bang on the mark with a great view of the bayou.

Neil King