I’m not really sure where country music starts and alt-country ends. Similarly, I probably couldn’t explain where country rock and Americana brush up against each other. That said, I suspect that wherever those meeting points are, it’s a place that Tristan Roberson would feel very comfortable in. At least, the opening title track of his latest album, One Night In Dallas, a big blend of country twangs and rock weight, would suggest so.
But of course, one song, even one as good as this opening salvo, does not an album make, but thankfully, as he wanders the sounds and styles I have listed above, not to mention weaving in threads of soul and blues and rock and roll and perhaps even pop, he delivers a host of great songs, one after the other.
“Hearts Don’t” finds him in more traditional country realms, the sort of groove that would have the cowboy boots clicking in unison across the dance floor, the kind of drifting sonics that evokes the big skies of that great nation.
There are pop-aware ballads, such as the musically lush and lyrically lovely “Save A Dance For Me,” a sentimental waltz through love and longing, there are old-school country-rock groovers thanks to “Honky Tonk In The Street,” and “Prayin’ for Rain” is an emotive and intense slice of heady blues to round the album off.
One Night In Dallas is an album that explores where country music stands in the modern age. It blends tradition with adventure, merges adjoining genres, takes existing sounds to new creative conclusions, and moves the genre forward with tremendous confidence. It would be a major accomplishment for even the most established music maker, but the fact that this is Roberson’s debut album and he is only seventeen makes it even more outstanding.
