Tony Wright & Ryan Hamilton - Grand Ole Otley (2018) Hi-Res

"Ya know, I'm still not exactly sure how it happened," says Ryan Hamilton.

It's an unlikely album. In one corner you've got Tony Wright: Britrock star, Terrorvision singer and dry stone waller. In the other sits Texan singer-songwriter Hamilton, formerly of People On Vacation (featuring Bowling For Soup's Jaret Reddick), occasional collaborator with Ginger Wildheart, and currently leader of Ryan Hamilton & The Traitors. And they've made a country record, Grand Ole Otley, named after Wright's coffee and print-shop in Otley, Yorkshire.

More precisely, Grand Ole Otley is a collection of old-fashioned folk and country classics, from a surprisingly downbeat version of Dolly Parton's Jolene to a surprisingly upbeat take on Hank Williams Jr.'s Family Tradition. Those who know the traditional folk classic In The Pines from Nirvana's unplugged cover of Where Did You Sleep Last Night? will love the way the song has been fleshed out with full band and howling harmonica, and The Rolling Stones' Wild Horses is given a plaintive, slightly ghostly reading. It all rounds off with Leon Payne's Lost Highway, a song made famous by Hank Williams, where the duo are joined by former Hey! Hello! singer Victoria Liedtke.

"I was already a fan of Terrorvision, and we have a lot of mutual friends," says Hamilton. "But I had never met Tony. I don't know if he heard our song on the radio, or just overheard our stuff that Dave [producer Dave Draper] was working on. Whatever happened, he expressed interest in working together. I was flattered and excited. Before I knew it, we were recording an old song together called Everytime I'm Kissing You. Never in a million years did I think we'd make an album together. Especially not this album. This whole thing continues to be the most wonderful surprise."