Rich Man's Gold

Rich Man’s Gold mines musical ore deeply rooted in the Red Dirt sound — a swampy twang stewing Americana with chunky country rock and the kind of electric blues-steeped songs that sound best blasted from vintage tube-burning amplifiers. Six-string slinger Travis Linville does just that on the opening “Trav’s Intro,” a solitary cutlet of overdriven guitar that slides and bends into the first song “Between The Lines,” where Cox muses on the joys (and judgments) of being a young man living in arrested development. “Carousel” kicks off with a sweet sounding fiddle before Cox and his band deliver a tune tempered in the tones of true Lone Star state country. “Talkin’ With The Devil” flirts with western swing underneath flaming hot Telecaster guitar licks, but “Burning You” is the standout here with twin fiddle leads that usher in a simmering serenade of close harmonies and heartbreaking lyrics about throwing in the towel and cutting one’s losses in the face of perpetual adversity. With a first album this impressive, it will be interesting to see where Cox goes from here.