Rancho Alto

Boland’s sixth studio album is as twangy as his first, showing no sign of needing to gloss things over. “Down Here in the Hole” kickstarts Rancho Alto with fiddle, acoustic guitar, banjo, and that honest-to-goodness Red Dirt Texas drawl crooning a gripping story about a miner trapped in a cave-in. The ballad “Every Moment I’m Gone” is gorgeously trimmed in traditional tones like weepy pedal steel and parlor piano. Here Boland sings the kind of slow-burning honky-tonker that would sound right at home in a roadhouse dive with sawdust and peanut shells scattered on the floor. Hints of bygone Bakersfield backbeat propels “False Accuser's Lament” as Boland sings an engaging narrative about American justice gone wrong. A closing cover of Greg Jacobs’ “Farmer’s Luck” reveals Boland’s appreciation for blue-collar ethos.