Disclaimer: Started writing this on Saturday but didn’t finish and post until Monday.
Happy Saturday compadres! My wife and I got all the chores around the house finished this afternoon, including a freshly mowed yard that’s now actually green thanks to the rain. So now we’re both relaxing in our own way. She’s taking a little nap on the couch and I’m sitting on the back porch with the dog, some cold beers, and a new album to review.
The music this week comes from a guy named Chris Canterbury’s album titled “Refinery Town”. I guess all this social connecting and such is paying off because I wouldn’t have found Chris if not for this post by Dalton Domino (follow him!) earlier in the week. My plan has been to write about this album all week, so I stopped at HEB last night to grab some beverages to aid my write up and let my curiosity get the better of me. As a result, I bought a six pack of Shiner Sea Salt & Lime. Their marketing worked like a charm.
You all know Shiner Bock, I’m sure. Its iconic yellow label, bighorn ram, and amber pour have been Texas staples forever. The success of the Shiner brand has allowed their brewmasters a lot of creative freedom with seasonal beers, hence the Sea Salt & Lime. A friend asked what I thought in response to my Instagram story and my responsive was basically:
“It’s somewhere between Bud Light Lime and Michelob Cactus Lime. Easy drinking and would probably buy again for the right occasion”.
There’s not a whole lot else to say about this seasonal brew. I’m not going to sing its praises because it’s not really my style, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t finish that six pack awful quick. It was the perfect pair for a hot day on the porch with great tunes. Head down to your local and grab a pack then let me know what you think!
I’ve been trying to decide who Chris Canterbury sounds most like. The closest you can get to his sound is probably a mix between Chris Stapleton and Chris Wall. He’s got a little bit of the raspiness that has helps Stapleton set himself apart from others in his genre, while his skill as a lyricist reminds me more of Wall’s 1996 album “Just Another Place”. I now realize that I’m referring to three different versions of Chris in the same write up. I’ve got to plan that better and mix in some name variety next time.
“Refinery Town”, which was released in 2017, is best described as a musical recollection of his journey from childhood in his “rusted out refinery town” until his life today, on the road playing honky-tonks and bars. One aspect I really enjoy from this album is that it’s not over-produced. In other words there’s not a lot of unnecessary background noise and instruments, just a healthy amount of Canterbury’s soulful voice and guitar picking.
In what’s becoming a theme here on Westbound Soul, “Refinery Town” is full of the gritty Americana-style songwriting that tells stories of life as it is. Not the happy-go-lucky way Nashville country wants it to be. Canterbury’s raspy voice just adds to the grit laden lyrics by giving him a weathered, tough, don’t-mess-with-me-I’ve-been-through-some-shit kind of sound. Listen to “Broken Man” and you’ll see what I mean.
Favorite 3 Tracks:
Refinery Town
Shreveport
Broken Man
Unfortunately his website doesn’t currently have any tour dates posted, but I’ll link the page anyway in case that gets updated. Check him out and follow him on Instagram here and make sure to pick up his album “Refinery Town” on Amazon, iTunes, and wherever else you can find it. Maybe if we make enough noise he’ll hit up central or South Texas sometime soon.
Questions or comments about “Refinery Town”, Chris Canterbury, or Texas music in general? Social media will get you a damn-near immediate response, so contact us on twitter or instagram @westboundsoul or leave a comment below.
