Album Notes

Longtime Milwaukee showband leader Paul Barry steps away from the classic cover band constraints with remarkable results on his latest CD, Paul Barry and the Del Reys, a red-hot blend of roots rock and alt-country with a
pinch of Americana.
Backed by a crack studio ensemble, Barry puts his own revved-up vocal touch on contributions from a wide range of songwriters.
Barry sets both the tempo and overall feeling of the recording on the first cut, a listener-grabbing, uptempo version of Boo Hoo, originally done by The Billygoats.
On the second track, Alcohol of Fame, Barry steps away from the vocal spotlight, turning lead vocals over to steel guitar virtuoso Eddie Rivers, doing his final local recording session before joining renowned Western swing outfit Asleep At The Wheel. Susan Jeske-Dermody, a well-known figure in Midwest Irish music circles, adds her considerable fiddle talents to complete the Texas dance hall feel.
On cuts such as Heaven (Cigar Store Indians); How Mean You Really Are(Riptones) and Girl At The End Of The Bar (Walter Clevenger & The Dairy Kings), Barry adds a nice pop overlay without diluting the roadhouse edge.
Jeske-Dermody's opening fiddle sets the tone for the country/bluegrassstandard, No Longer A Sweetheart Of Mine, while Jim Herman's violin combines with Rivers mournful steel to take Longing (The Derailers) into the ballad
territory inhabited by Roy Orbison, Chris Isaak and The Mavericks Raoul Malo.
The recording again subtly switches gears as vocal harmonies give On Our Own (The Taters) an Everly Brothers feel, followed by the lone instrumental track, Lurking In The Shadows (Los Straitjackets).
Barry's rough-and-ready vocal approach on Seven Days Without Love, co-written by Bill Lloyd, conjures up an image of The Standells brought forward several decades for a one-nighter in a redneck bar.
A subtle version of There You Go, co-written by country rock veteran Chris Hillman, provides an appropriate breather before Barry rips into the closer, Todd Snider's Nashville. Bolstered by Tom Reifenberg's roadhouse piano,
Barry's version of pays tribute to the original, but refuses to take a back seat.
Recorded and engineered by studio veteran Dave Neitzke, who also assembled the Del-Reys - Ryan Rossebo (guitar), Donn Trampe (bass) and Gary Koehler (drums) - the production rivals or exceeds that of many so-called major
label projects. Barry's vocals are allowed to carry the recording, while the Del-Reys accord appropriate space for the additional talents of Rivers and Jeske-Dermody.
Although covering a wide range of artists, the carefully chosen songs anchored by Barry's vocal presence combine to form a seamless return to the innocence and independence of the roots of rock and roll.