Various Artists,
Cow Hear This! 3



Label: CBuJ Entertainment

(4 out of 5)

There's no shortage of compilations featuring music from the vibrant Texas/Red Dirt scene, but few can match the quality of Cow Hear This! 3.

Newcomer CBuJ Entertainment picks up the franchise from Cowpendia, which released Cow Hear This! in 2002 and Cow Hear This! 2 a year later. Despite the change of hands, the series continues to promote quality country and country/rock artists to a national audience.

Most of the artists on Cow Hear This! 3 have more a regional than national profile. I have to admit there's even a couple I hadn't heard previously (Brenn Hill and Jamie Richards). But chances are there's at least a couple names — like Willie Nelson and Robert Earl Keen — that should ring a bell with anyone unfamiliar with Texas/Red Dirt music.

There's not a single dud here, which is no small feat considering the album compiles songs from 14 different artists:

• Stoney LaRue, "Walk Away" (listen)
• Aaron Watson, "The Right Place" (listen)
• Eli Young Band, "Small Town Kid" (listen)
• Zona Jones, "House of Negotiable Affections" (listen)
• Willie Nelson, "Crazy" (listen)
• Jason Allen, "Your Heart Turned Left" (listen)
• Cooder Graw, "Lifetime Stand" (listen)
• Micky & the Motorcars, "Pointless Love" (listen)
• Tommy Alverson, "Maybe In Mexico" (listen)
• Brenn Hill, "Buckaroo Tattoo" (listen)
• Robert Earl Keen, "Out Here In The Middle" (listen)
• Jamie Richards, "Wasted" (listen)
• Gary P. Nunn, "Perfectly Normal" (listen)
• The Great Divide, "Cowboy Song" (listen)

If anything stands out from the pack, it's Willie's ageless "Crazy." Other contenders include Eli Young Band's "Small Town Kid," Micky & the Motorcars' "Pointless Love," and the Great Divide's "Cowboy Song" — but primarily because of their quickened tempo and heightened energy.

Top to bottom, Cow Hear This! 3 is an excellent showcase of Texas/Red Dirt music. Think of it as the mix CD you would compile if only you had the time.

March 4, 2006