Stovall

"Good old fashioned country-rock with some excellent songwriting" - Taproot Radio

After years of comprehensive study in my lonely sound lab I've come to the conclusion that the best alt.country music is alt.country music that can be played loud, you know, like Rock and Roll. While listening to True Story from Atlanta band Stovall I found myself constantly twisting the volume knob to the hurtin' side of the dial. So loud in the lab, in fact, that my hound dog had to abandon his usual spot by my side and amble off -- he has lousy taste in music, though.

Comprised of several veterans of the Atlanta music scene, they aren't afraid to let their rock roots show as evidenced by the raucous opening cut, "Stray Dog." Driving beats and snarling slide guitars pack a wallop of attitude and rule the disc, though they still manage to play nice with the occasional banjo. Even slow, sad numbers like "Misery" beg for a higher volume and not just drown out the "tink, tink, tink" of your tears on falling on your half-finished PBR tall boy, but because of the sonic wall that backs the vocals. True Story is a fun and meaty foray into twang-rock and well worth a turn of your volume knob. - Cholly LaFrance

On the cover of the CD 'True Story...' from the American group 'Stovall' things looks very threatening with a mustached skull between a number of stinging cactuses. But the music from this band of six from Atlanta, Georgia around singer and composer Hannibal Heredia is not dangerous. On the contrary, it seems like a very nice group of music lovers anchored by Angela Fox, the singer and strong support of Stovall.

That Heredia and his friends are ardent supporters of the music of bands like Old 97's, Wilco, Whiskey Town, Tom Petty and the Rolling Stones cannot be hidden, because every song on their debut album 'True Story...' does let some impact of these groups shine through.

The strong sound of rock from most of the tracks from this CD is comprised of solid hooks, guitar riffs, and danceable melodies. 'Empty Bottle' and 'Stay Up Late' swing immediately into rock, and it is only as Angela Fox, as the lead vocalist on 'Stop Letting Me Go', that the pace of the music slows. Her alto voice is immediately reminiscent of Chrissie Hynde from the Pretenders and also of the raw vocal cords of Lucinda Williams.

The members of Stovall can all look back on several years of music, mostly in the indie-rock scene or punk world. With this group, the sharp edges are rounded but with style, and it gives them more radio-friendly pop and rock songs. Kevin Elrod ventures out to a ballad in 'Walk Alone', but after about one minute it gets back on speed. Afterwards, the CD switches from banjo-driven country music in 'Blue Skies' to the alt- country number 'Hurtin' Kind'. The varying nature of this record is even more emphasized with a tearjerker par excellence in the beautiful 'Misery', again sung by Angela Fox.

Perhaps a cautionary note for a moment, Stovall in some songs do not seem to be as well in the strength in singing tone. Especially “Southern Vine" and "Pick Up Lines" suffer a little. These are things that are currently found in the recording studio are easily corrected and therefore should have been. ?However, we must honestly say that the band is best on the two great closing tracks "Champagne", and the lovely rocking "Stray Dog", invariably their opening song at live shows. All in all, this CD is still an excellent introduction to the sextet of seasoned musicians. "True Story ..." will easily provide for a fun entertaining evening. - www.rootstime.be