Country-influenced Rock: Stoll Vaughan's Love Like a Mule

I seriously meant to start my review of Stoll Vaughan’s Love Like a Mule this way:

Stoll Vaughan’s Love Like a Mule comes blazing out of the stall with the James McMurtry-like jump country blues of “Alright.” From there, it was no trouble to keep me listening to the rest of the album, because Vaughan had already convinced that he came to lay down some of the tightest new Country-influenced Rock out there.

That’s how I meant to start the review, but now that Vaughan lost most of his belongings, guitar, and songs in a freak fire in his RV while it was being towed, it seems like maybe “blazing out of the stall” might not be an appropriate metaphorical verb. Out of respect for what Vaughan’s experienced, here’s a few new ones I’ll try:

Opening Love Like a Mule with “Alright,” Stoll Vaughan really kicks that mule out of the stall.

Somewhere between Bob Dylan’s Love and Hate and James McMurtry’s “Choctaw Bingo,” Stoll Vaughan found a Country rock dance beat for “Alright” that slams and jams the mule out the door.

There’s nothing stubborn about Love Like a Mule as Stoll Vaughan leads “Alright” from the stall, racing to go to work on pulling out some country blues rock jams from the sonic field.

Watch Carl Broemel’s electric guitar, Jake Smith’s bass, and the drums getting the mule bucking in its stall on “Alright,” the first track of Stoll Vaughan’s Love Like a Mule. Vaughan opens the gate, calls that mule out, and talks it into taking its energy down some mysterious, blues, country march.

Meanwhile, later in the album, the title track is like a mule train of comparisons. Vaughan brings together the sounds of Charlie Sexton, the Bottle Rockets, J.J. Cale, Tom Petty, Darrel Scott, and Mark Knopfler. It’s the kind of mule train that you can trust to get you down into the very deep depths of some mine and still find the light of day again.

Besides just changing the descriptive verb, please support Vaughan by buying this CD. Even jewel box on your shelf gets him closer to another RV!

Thanks to Stoll Vaughan for the review CD.