At its core, country music has a deep affinity for storytelling. From Willie Nelson and Townes Van Zandt to Blaze Foley and Dolly Parton, the greats have always embraced narrative elements in their songwriting. Austin country outfit Chasen Wayne & the Honky Tonk Machine follows in that longstanding tradition on his fourth album, The Diamond Saloon, which was released yesterday, August 28.
The album launches with, “Part One,” a piano riff that teeters between jazz and blues and features a gravelly spoken-word snippet that owes a great deal of its aesthetic to Tom Waits. It’s one of four similar tracks that punctuate the album and create a clear story arc across its 17 songs. While those interludes represent a sharp contrast to the rest of the record’s rollicking honky-tonk numbers, there’s something of their spirit that remains.
Wayne bends the rules of country just as often as he bends twangy notes. These songs teem with elements of surf-pop, Tejano rock, and windswept southwest desert flair. The Diamond Saloon’s first movement contains its most straightforward material, but adventurous listeners will find Wayne’s most distinct fingerprint as the album unfolds—a brooding thump of the guitar line on “Carlos,” the theatrical violin on “Santa Muerte,” and the wild ambition of “Rio Concho Waltz & Ricky’s Shift,” which transforms it’s slow-burn ballroom cadence into a blistering country rocker over the course of its six and a half minutes.
Vocally, Wayne has no trouble flexing a plaintive warble accustomed to the genre, but at times, his baritone also recalls indie alt-country hero Jason Molina of Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co. (another songwriter who incidentally liked mixing folk and country with blues and rock).
To celebrate the release of the album, Chasen Wayne & the Honky Tonk Machine host a show at Sagebrush tonight, Saturday, August 29, that also includes performances from mainstay Ramsay Midwood and rising stars Ransom Brothers. One of Austin’s best artists, Midwood doesn’t play outside of his home base of Sam’s Town Point, so it’s a wonderful treat to see him at Sagebrush, where there’s a little extra real estate to two-step to his distinct blend of bluesy cosmic country. The show starts at 7 p.m. Check out “En Laredo” from The Diamond Saloon below.