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The best music – and the best musicians – defy easy categorization. Promoters, record company and media scramble for words to describe the flavor-of-the-month, but folks with real music in their souls just keep creating, playing – even redefining themselves – with no thought of labels or catchy marketing phrases. Tough on A&R crews, and even tougher on themselves, they’re good news for people who love a song that says more than “I just wanna get some airplay”. Upbeat contemporary. Alt-country, “Hat Band”, who really cares what it’s called, as long as it speaks to you? And the way it is with Burrito Deluxe.

What can you say about the guys in the band?

Sneaky Pete Kleinow is, in no small part, responsible for the group’s signature sound; his groundbreaking steel guitar work brought the rock guitarist’s licks, effects and attitude to the here-to-fore “country music” instrument. It would be no overstatement to say that all steel guitar work in recent pop-rock music owes something to the innovation of Sneaky Pete. After the disbanding of the original Burritos in 1972, Sneaky Pete pursued a career as a session musician, becoming one of the most sought-after steel guitarists in Los Angeles through the 1970s. He recorded with a veritable who’s who of pop-rock: John Lennon, The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Wonder, Randy Newman, Little Feat, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Joe Cocker, Carly Simon, Harry Nilsson, just to name a few. In the meantime, he continued to pursue a second career in film as a visual effects specialist. Growing out of his experience in the 1960s as head animator on the Gumby television series, Sneaky Pete compiled an impressive resume of work including credits on The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Terminator (1984) and Army of Darkness (1993); his production company also produced memorable television ads for Chuck Wagon dog food and Pillsbury (featuring the doughboy “Poppin’ Fresh”). In the past two decades he has also continued his recording career, playing with various incarnations of The Flying Burrito Brothers and releasing a solo album “Meet Sneaky Pete” (1990). His work with Burrito Deluxe marks his return to the studio after more than a decade.
Canadian born Garth Hudson, multi-instrumentalist and musical sage, has been heralded as one of the most innovative musicians of the latter half of the twentieth century. Hudson's work with The Band is nothing less than legendary, his playing unique, and his range of musical voices — on, among other instruments, the saxophone, the accordion, and various incarnations of the keyboard — protean. — the most innovative of The Band's talented members. Hudson's choice of musical venues has been eclectic over the years, and his solo release The Sea to the North (also on CoraZong Records) solidified his place in the roll call of the new millennium's musical innovators. Hudson’s keyboard work can also be heard on recent albums from Dixie Hummingbirds, Los Lobos and Norah Jones.
Carlton Moody may be a few years younger than Garth and Sneaky, but he sings with the conviction of the ages. He comes by it honestly, too – his father was a fiddler with Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys. Carlton’s voice ranges from clear as a bell to gritty as a pair of old work boots, branding every song his own, every lyric a narrative that makes the listener feel like he’s swapping stories on the front porch with a dear friend. Grammy-nominated for Best Country Instrumental, he doesn’t hide behind the microphone, backing his pure-as-spring-water, Hill Country voice on guitar and mandolin.

Of Course, without drums’n’bass, it just don’t rock. Jeff ‘Stick’ Davis featured with The Amazing Rhythm Aces, and he hasn’t dropped a beat since. His incredible work on both electric and upright bass drives Burrito Deluxe forward.

Finally, but by no means least, Rick Lonow keeps the beat on drums and percussion. Recording with everyone from Johnny Cash to Tommy Tutone, Rick knows that it’s about more than keeping on the quarter notes – it’s about moving the music and the listener.

With a cast of seasoned veterans, the ingredients in this Burrito are familiar, but it’s a spicy new dish with its own unique flavour. Sequestered in a basement somewhere in Nashville, the boys spent several intense weeks writing, rehearsing, and picking, developing their own signature sound – and collectively turning a major new page in their respective illustrious careers. When the time came to record, it all came together so easily and naturally, even they were amazed. Stick and Rick laid down 25 rhythm tracks in only two days. (If you’ve spent any time in recording studios, you’d know it’s no mean feat). The emotions played out on this album range from the sweet, simple love song, to poignant tales of mournful regret, to good-time. They never fail to reach the listener and burrow inside … and they never bend themselves to fit into a convenient niche.

This is a brand new page – a New American music for people who love a good story well told, and a melody that sticks around for more than three minutes on the radio. This is music for The Heartland, played from the heart.

… The songs

1. 
   You Got Gold. A love song as only John Prine could write. A little bittersweet, a little tongue-in-cheek, who else could rhyme “Life is a blessin’/ it’s a delicatessen?” The interplay of Garth’s keyboards and Sneaky’s pedal steel is the best kind of musical collaboration—masterly, playful, and spontaneous.
   
2. The Letter. We all know this song, whether the Boxtop’s 1967 original, The Arbors’ 1969 cover, or Joe Cocker’s famously soulful live version featuring Leon Russell. Garth’s signature Lowry organ sound starts us off, and Carlton puts his own countrified stamp on the vocals. Note for trivia buffs—Boxtops’ singer Alex Chilton was only sixteen when he recorded this chart-topping hit!
   
3. Woman Like You. A medium-tempo love song, written by the whole band. No one can say exactly where it started, somebody just got into a groove, and everybody else picked up on it. There’s immediacy to songs that happen like this, and it shows in the boys’ playing, and Carlton’s sweet, heartfelt singing.
   
4. Sister. This instrumental written by Sneaky plays it sweet and mellow. A tune for a warm summer afternoon in the country, even if you’re listening stuck in rush hour traffic. This one goes down smooth.
   
5. Ezekiel’s Wheel. Penned by North Carolina native and Atlantic recording artist Matt King, one of Carlton’s many musical friends. An up-tempo rocker, with a faintly ominous tinge to the Biblically infused lyrics, this number puts Sneaky’s pedal-steel front-and-centre. Sneaky can be subtle, but this one shows him off for the hard-driving rock star he should be.
   
6. Zydeco Ball. A collaborative effort between Carlton Moody and the legendary Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, this is spicy tune that says “Laissez les bon temps roulez!” Once again, Garth’s accordion sounds authentic, without lapsing into cliché. Carlton’s mandolin licks complete the sound of the Ol’ Missisip.
   
7. Everywhere I Go. A workingman’s ballad, this original by Carlton tugs at anyone who’s ever carried an unrequited love in his heart. From the big city lights to every one-horse town, we’ve all felt the ache of “The one that got away.” Straightforward, beautiful, and sincere, with back-up harmonies a perfect counterpoint to Carlton’s lead.
   
8. All I Had Left. A countrified contribution from Stick, a song of losing love that avoids sounding maudlin. There’s the flavour of a traditional Honky-Tonk number here, but with the distinctive Burrito Deluxe spices. Garth sounds right at home with some Roadhouse-style piano, and Sneaky’s pedal steel lends just the right rustic feel.
   
9. Memphis Money. Originally performed by Richard Ferreira, co-written with Mark Irwin, it’s a bluesy, earthy number, hinting at shady back-door deals done in the dead of night. We never know exactly what the mission might be, but we can feel the mixture of fear, desperation and the relief that will come with the realization of that sweet, sweet Memphis Money. Like the song says, “Sometimes a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.”
   
10. Leave This City. Merle Haggard gave this one his mournful best, a last-call at the bar kind of song. Despairing on the surface, but with an undercurrent of hope, Merle forswears the microwave oven and the city life, and looks to build himself a cabin in the country with a potbellied stove. Merle could play the recluse, but this speaks to anyone who’s ever wanted to just chuck it all and get back to the land.
    
11. Baton Rouge. Master song smith Guy Clark has his roots in West Texas, but in this one, he sounds like he can’t wait to kick the dust off his boots, get down to the Bayou, and kick up the heels on his alligator shoes. It’s a good-time Louisiana party song, and Garth’s accordion lends just the right touch of Cajun flavour. You can almost taste the crawfish!
    
12. Last Letter Home. A Civil War lament, a soldier’s dying words, sentiments that arise any time men take up arms against each other. Written by Butch McDade, Stick Davis’s drum-playing comrade in The Amazing Rhythm Aces. Although the song first appeared on The Aces’ 1977 album Toucan Do It Too, the last verse was written twenty years later. Sadly, Butch died of cancer in 1998, at 52, and this sensitive rendition is a fitting tribute to a fine musician’s legacy.
    
13. Rex Bob Lowenstein. Rex Bob is the kind of radio DJ we search the airwaves for, but rarely—if ever—find. He’s an Everyman who plays what he wants, sponsors and suits be damned. He might not hold onto his job, but he makes a glorious last stand for his audience. Writer Mark Germino started off as a poet, supported his later musical ambitions as a trucker, and both show in his down-to-earth lyricism.
    
14. [European bonus track] Bid You Goodnight. A traditional Bahamian gospel song sung a capella by the Grateful Dead to close many of their concerts in the late sixties and the beginning of the seventies. The Dixie Hummingbirds included this beautiful gospel song on their Diamond Jubilation album, on which Burrito Deluxe’s Garth Hudson can be heard as a guest-musician.