Rowdy McCarran - Here (2024)

Rowdy’s a good piece of musical marble. This set was recorded in Las Vegas. 11 wonderful pieces fill Here & it’s a percolating showcase produced by veteran entertainment producer/songwriter Rob Hegel (keyboards/percussion) & Bobby Ferrari.

Out of the starting gate, he demonstrates his sharp country-tilted storytelling with exceptional pacing & tone. “I Drink” spills a little Roger Miller humor but Rowdy adds a John Prine cynical side to the words. “Then I drink, and I forget her for a while…” That’s rich.

“Do You Ever Think of Me,” is another John Prine hat tip – but, not as an imitation. Just mining the same vein & coming up with another nugget. This has the same resounding poignancy as the classic Michael Smotherman song “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind.” It isn’t rowdy but it’s spiffy & heart-tugging.

Each tune rolls along like new steel-belted radials. While Rowdy looks one way his material thus far shows more passionate & moving swipes rather than incendiary ones. All likeable. He does it with expertise & a minimum of cliches. Many songs themselves were written by Rob Hegel who has a sparkling pen. Lots of catchy, mainstream melodies & Rowdy’s vocal enthusiasm.

With a tune like “Road Signs,” he mixes Charlie Daniels’s fiddle muscle with The Band’s rural rhythmic punch. There are more brandy-drenched tunes than Jim Beam. There’s often some melodic romanticism (“The Man Who Stands Beside You”) that’s reminiscent of the 1965 Bobby Darin tune “The Girl Who Stood Beside Me.”

Quite a driving variety of determined & impressive country-inflected performances. Rowdy possesses sufficient amounts of gratifying song flavors. Despite his signature physical traits being typical of the genre: chains, cowboy hat, boots & tattoos. He’d benefit from sculpting an entirely original dynamic for a more recognizable look wholly made up of his character. Why? Because that’s how an audience will remember you.

Elvis & Lyle Lovett had the hair. Garth Brooks had a big hat. Randy Travis had a twang. Dolly Parton had …(you get the idea). Mr. McCarran’s got the music, voice & a great name. Why not create a persona more in line with a “Rowdy” look? And not a Lemmy Kilmister one. Ah, that’s just the publicist in me.

Highlights – “I Drink,” “Do You Ever Think of Me,” “Little Bit of Love,” “Just As I Am,” “Road Signs,” “The Man Who Stands Beside You,” “Better Than This” & “Any Heart Can.”