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by Julian Spivey
Julian Spivey Photo
The Wilder Blue, one of the best groups currently on the Texas country music scene, brought its terrific harmonies, musicianship and songs to The Revolution Room in Little Rock, Ark., for the first time on Thursday, July 10.
The Wilder Blue is a group of longtime touring musicians, led by Zane Williams, who released six solo albums from 2006 to 2016 before forming the band. Williams is the band’s primary frontman and songwriter. He filled the band out with lead guitarist Paul Eason, drummer Lyndon Hughes, bassist Sean Rodriguez and multi-instrumentalist Andy Rogers. The most fascinating aspect of The Wilder Blue is its excellent harmonization, which evokes the legendary country-rock of The Eagles. The group released its fourth album, Still in the Runnin’, in the five years since its 2020 debut in March, and the set on Thursday night featured heavily from the new release. The Wilder Blue opened the show with one of the highlights from the new album, “Learnin’ My Lesson,” which includes The Steel Woods frontman Wes Bayliss on the album version. Other highlights from Still in the Runnin’ included the groovy title track, some great harmony on “When the Last Light Fades” and “Los Diablos Tejanos,” a tale of Texas Rangers chasing Mexican bandits. Being a Texas country band means that The Wilder Blue also has some influences of traditional Mexican music, which Eason brilliantly showcased with a mesmerizing performance of "Canción del Mariachi ("Morena de Mi Corazón"),” made famous by Los Lobos and Antonio Banderas in director Robert Rodriguez’s 1995 film “Desperado.” Eason would get a big laugh out of the Rev Room audience with “Excuse Me,” a short tune with a helluva punchline, before nearly taking their breath away with the beautiful, “Adios,” from the band’s 2020 debut Hill Country. Williams is truly at his best when writing story songs, like the heartbreaking “Dixie Darlin’,” the story of a man who’s in love with a rodeo queen, who loves her sport more than him. Then there’s the tragic “Pablo and Maria,” from Williams’ 2009 solo album The Right Place, which is somewhat of a modern take on the Ray Charles and Willie Nelson classic duet “Seven Spanish Angels.” Williams showed off an incredible vocal performance on this tearjerker. Perhaps Williams’ best story song is “Janie Lynn,” the tale of a miner who is entranced by a new dancing girl in town, which turns tragic when he comes to her aid while being attacked by a local man. The group harmonizes incredibly on the opening and closing verses of the song. The Wilder Blue appears to be a tight-knit group, and they have a great deal of fun on stage, which keeps the audience entertained and smiling throughout their set. You can feel this no better than when Hughes gets his time to shine behind his drum kit on a cover of The Eagles' 1975 No. 1 hit “One of These Nights.” The band would bring another Eagles classic to life in its encore with their beautiful harmonizing on the Steve Young-penned “Seven Bridges Road.” Williams would then take a seat at the keys for a heart-wrenching performance of “The Queen of Austin,” one of their highlights off Still in the Runnin’, before finishing off the evening of wonderful music with a rip-roaring performance of “The Ghost of Lincoln,” off the group’s 2022 self-titled album. Don’t pass up a chance to see The Wilder Blue live if they’re performing near your city.
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