Album Notes

Bar of Gold from Arty Hill and the Long Gone Daddys, based out of Baltimore, Maryland, includes some of the best rockin’ honky tonk this side of Hank Williams.

Arty is a fine singer and songwriter and this follow-up to 2005’s Back On The Rail continues a string of well-crafted songs performed with an uncanny sense of time and attention to detail. Bar of Gold includes eleven Arty originals including the rocked-up "Step Back Mama", the early 60s-style shuffle "I'm Thinkin It’s Better this Way" and the dark and dirty "Nashville Moon." Drummer Jack O'Dell (formerly of Bill Kirchen’s Too Much Fun) contributes his original "I Might Have Been a Lawyer (But I Couldn't Pass the Bar)" and sings lead on Arty's "A Wreck of a Man." This release is rounded out with plenty of steel guitar from Dave Giegerich, Heather Twigg on fiddle, and Arty plays the lion's share of twangin' Telecaster.

Jason Ringenberg , who wrote the liner notes, has already named Bar of Gold one of his favorite CDs of the year and states “I doubt there is a better country record put out this year.”