50-Odd Dollars  (Audio CD) 
by Fred Eaglesmith

There's a peculiar sort of alchemy at work behind Fred Eaglesmith's brand of roots rock. His musical influences are certainly eclectic--a bit of voodoo blues here, some T Bone Burnett there, not to mention traces of rockabilly, bluegrass, and even the odd nod to Tom Waits. But Eaglesmith effortlessly blends them into a seamless, powerful whole that sounds exactly like the sort of music you dream of hearing in some crowded, hot, beery bar near closing time. And that's really the point. For all his influences, Eaglesmith conjures up a truly timeless brand of primitive rock & roll. "Gettin' to Me" manages the amazing feat of fusing Del Shannon and Link Wray without sounding dated (think of "Runaway" propelled by reverb-drenched guitar lines), while "Crazier" is the kind of unadorned tearjerker that Nashville hasn't produced since the '60s. And once you hear "Blue Tick Hound," a swampy exercise in Zeppelin-esque dissonance, you'd never guess Eaglesmith is considered something of a folksinger. --Percy Keegan