Music Review 3rd Coast Music

DRIFTWOOD • SNAKE FARM

Liquid Daddy ***1/2

Rather illustrating the point I made last month about musicians needing
the expertise of indie labels, this folk-rock septet from Moulton, TX, seems
to have been galvanized into actually promoting its second self-released album,
at least to the extent of getting a copy to 3CM Towers, by the publicity Ray
Wylie Hubbard’s album of the same title, which came out almost a year later,
has been getting. Maybe they realized that a website is not enough, which is a
pretty good start, many indie artists don’t even get that far. Describing itself as
a co-operative rather than a band, which may explain why the personnel on the
website differs from the credits on the album, Driftwood is remarkably good
example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Its members,
Paula Higgins, lead vocals, Jimmy Jowell lead vocals, harmonica, piano, Frank
Nagel lead guitar, Gary Hoover rhythm guitar, Craig Higgins bass/lead guitar
and Matt Wickham drums (plus some interesting use of ambient sounds) are
competent enough individually, but the gestalt produces many quite remarkable
moments. With a solid set of 13 originals (or so I assume, there no writing credits
given), the band chugs along to create a very engaging sound, though personally
I would have put the warm voiced Higgins out front more as Jowell’s dry delivery
gets a little samey, though he does have one of the best lines, “If you think I
care, then you know more than me.” John Conquest-3rd Coast Music

Thanks, John. You are among the best and the brightest. We couldn't think of many we would rather receive notice from.

Just a note, all the songs are original. We eschew to much individual credit because it takes everybody working together to make things happen.

There are other fine review in this month's magazine, now on the shelves, at places like Threadgills, Waterlou, Casbeers, etc (see www.3rdcoastmusic.com)