Sweet Inspiration

Hollisters have another winner!:
I don't know what album I like better - their 1st or 2nd. The 2nd album is different but in a very good way. This is an album that you could play again and again and never get tired of listening to. We discovered them a year ago in a bar in Dallas and just saw them again at the same bar. They are one of those bands that sound the same in person as they do on the album. This is a must-buy album!

Good Driving Music:
This is the type of music that makes one want to put it in the CD player, put the top down and drive. Honest to goodness Texas music. A clear and clean recording. Will make it a point to see them when out that way. Recommended to anyone regardless of music taste. Lyrics clean and understandabel.

Twangin' Good Time:
The Hollisters offer up a combination of honest-to-goodness honky tonk and Texas-style hillbilly rock. The Derailers may be better known in alt.country, but whereas the Derailers sound a bit arch, the Hollisters sound energetic and genuine. You`ll get the idea with the first track "Fishin' Man," full of personality and twang. "Thrill of the Ride" has a Waylon Jennings beat and jangle combined with a vocal that echoes Johnny Cash. The driving twang runs the gamut from Cash to Buddy Holly. If your tastes fall anywhere inbetween, Sweet Inspiration is a very enjoyable record.

Let the Sounds Seep In:
Barfield and crew get it right again. Nowhere else is Texas and this CD bleeds Texas. Turn it up and damn the neighbors. Almeda genoa Road in Houston is noted as having more ice houses than any other road in America. On any given drive-by, car windows cranked down, one can hear the guitar riffs, the thumping bass, the tapping rhythms of Snit, and Mike's bellowing - deeper than a bullfrog's and saltier than an anchovy eminating from their upped garage doors. If you want to know what Texas sounds like this is it.

Amidst All Their Influences, Where are the Hollisters?:
Western swing, rockabilly, Johnny Cash, a little Jerry Lee Lewis, and most strongly Mavericks and Derailers. You get all that with this CD and those are some undoubtedly powerful good influences. What you don't get, at least this listener didn't, is much sense that this is a band taking off from those influences and building its own identity. Every cut is well-played and easy on the ear, good driving music, but nothing memorable. I will definitely give the Hollisters this -- they know how to open and close an album. Fishin' Man is a rollicking kickoff and The Last Picture Show a spooky closing. In between, though, I felt like I'd heard it all before.