Letting Go by Shimmy And The Burns (October 21, 2016 Release Date)

Reviewed by Harry Kaplan

Another fantastic band out of Knoxville, Tennessee? I am consistently amazed by all of the incredible music that I have discovered this year. Add Letting Go to the already long list of great one. Shimmy & the Burns are Brian “Shimmy” Paddock-Lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, mandolin; Wesley Harless-Lead Guitar; Patrick Beasley-Bass, backing vocals and Gurnee Barrett-Drums. Four guys who know hot sing and play the daylights out of their instruments. I hear a lot of Uncle Tupelo, Lucero, and Neil Young which is a winning trifecta.

Letting Go, the name of the album, is also the name of the opening track. They definitely drew from the Uncle Tupelo well. I can definitely hear a lot of Give Back The Key To My Heart on this one. They must have a lot of love for Farrar and Tweedy since Track 4 is a brilliant cover of Moonshiner. Shimmy And The Burns have a very unique arrangement on this tune. They really got the essence of the song without creating a copy. Perfection! Other great songs include Jimmy (Track 2) about Paddock’s hippie uncle who went to Woodstock and cried when Jerry died. It is a very infectious country number with a great tempo and plenty o’ pedal steel and twang. Southern Summer (Track 7) is a Camper Van Beethoven-esque number. Another great song with a great tempo, lyrics, and perfect harmonies. Black Sheep (Track 8) is a sad song is about Paddock not really fitting in to his family. Although sad, it is still a great country tune with a lot more pedal steel and twangy guitars. Those are some of the highlights but any of the songs on here could qualify. I expect to hear more from Shimmy And The Burns.

Listen to a few tracks off of Letting Go.

Buy Letting Go here.