Ol' Yeller - Penance (2003)

Ol' Yeller returns with Penance, their third album on SMA Records. This is the third album they have confidently produced, arranged and recorded themselves at bandleader Rich Mattson's Flowerpot Studio in Northeast Minneapolis.

Continuing in their refusal to pander to the latest trends, this record is less country-tinged than the last (Nuzzle), yet fun of rich, open sounds. Music oozing with character and sincerity, the 3 bandmates fervently rocking and rolling away on guitar, bass and drums..with a keyboard here or a jingle-jangle there for effect.

Lyrically there are plenty of ups and downs; songs about deception, beauty, meditations on the past, space/time travel, ending up with a song (That Attitude'll Get You Nowhere) chastising someone for not enjoying themselves. Overall, the songs reinforce the old phrase "what comes around goes around"..leading to the album's title PENANCE, making up for one's wrongdoings by doing good.

Over the past 2 years, this little band (Mattson, bassist Dale Kallman, and drummer Keely Lane) has executed tours across the US, booking themselves one to three weeks at a time from Minneapolis to Texas, Mississippi, New York City, or the West Coast. Ol' Yeller has showcased at both the SXSW and CMJ music festivals. In 2001, Rich Mattson was recognized as "Best Songwriter" by City Pages, a Minneapolis weekly.