Tom Russell “Love and Fear”

Sounds like: Tom Waits, Los Lobos

Is it any good:  The musical equivalent of “film noir”, this album is not afraid of the dark side of love. Russell has been recording folk, country and tex-mex music for over thirty years but this is as good a starting point as any if you’ve never heard his music before. Songs about down on their luck losers, dangerous situations and even the hearts of alligators contribute to one of the year’s most startling realistic albums. His spoken word soliloquies over spooky, swampy guitars will mesmerize you and his heartfelt duets with Gretchen Peters are enough to make you cry. A true folk-rock troubadour, Russell has visited the underside of life and lived to sing about it.