Ron’s Album Picks – Hellbound Glory

Another album pick from Ron! It’s time for some good old fashioned, home-spun badass rock. Hellbound Glory certainly win for having an awesome band name.

In the mood for some badass country-flavored rock’n’roll tunes? Then look no further than Scumbag Country, the 2008 debut album by California’s Hellbound Glory.

Drawing inspiration from the likes of Johnny Cash, Guy Clark, Gene Vincent, Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams and Billy Joe Shaver, the band’s music is a glorious blend of classic Americana, outlaw country, bar band rock and swamp blues. In addition to the basic rock’n’roll format of electric guitars, bass and drums, the album also features acoustic guitars, banjo and steel guitar. Far from being a mere update of the outlaw country genre, Hellbound Glory’s output puts a unique spin on this category of country music, appealing to innumerable music lovers above and beyond country fans. (The band has toured with the likes of Kid Rock, ZZ Top and Leon Russell, among others.)

Although the group went on to release several more albums after their debut, I still find myself returning to Scumbag Country time and again a dozen years after its release. (The album appeared in the number eight spot on my Top Ten list of 2008, as featured on Nightwaves, a weekly program I produce and host on CFCR-FM in Saskatoon.) And my favorite track remains “I Don’t Think Waylon Done It Their Way”, a tongue-in-cheek answer to Waylon Jennings’, “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?”.

About the Author

Ron Spizziri grew up in Toronto in the 50s and 60s, building up a record library (which became an addiction early on and continues to this day). After moving to Saskatoon in 1979, he got into the “music biz” in a big way – running a record store (Records on Wheels), producing and hosting radio and TV shows, promoting concerts, doing some freelance writing, and starting up a record label (Rockin’ Rod records). Luddite that he is, Ron still favours vinyl analogue recordings over all other forms of recorded music.