Ian Noe thinks big. Containing 16 songs and running nearly an hour, his epic third album concludes a trilogy exploring the world of his eastern Kentucky home. Mixing driving old-school country and moody ballads, Canyon Falls Trailer Band captures the performance of a fictional group auditioning for record executives at a Nashville showcase. Do these hopefuls get signed? He doesn't say, but this is a dazzling work in any case.
Blessed with an easygoing twang, Noe is a fine honky-tonk singer in a noble tradition stretching all the way back to Hank Williams. The fervent players supply plenty of down-home goodness, especially Billy Contreras on fiddle and a rotating cast of steel aces. The immortal Charlie McCoy blows lovely harmonica on one tune, certifying the old guard’s approval.
The pleasures of country music’s rich history and the challenge of living up to it help shape the stories of Canyon Falls Trailer Band. Merle Haggard is invoked multiple times, while “Kickin’ It in Nashville” observes, “Just because you like to party / Don’t make ya George Jones.” Echoing Gram Parsons’ “Return of the Grievous Angel” and name-checking The Byrds’ Sweetheart of the Rodeo, “Return of the Interstellar Angels” recounts the saga of outer-space visitors so captivated by country music they assume human form and set out to make it big in Music City.
