Christian Serpas and Ghost Town, Six Pack (Independent)

 

Christian Serpas & Ghost Town’s heart is in the right place. They start every show with “Folsom Prison Blues” to pledge allegiance to Johnny Cash and classic outlaw country. They could afford to stop that now—it’s a little too well-known a song to feature every night, sort of like covering “Louie, Louis” nightly—but it’s a nice gesture. They wrap up this six-song EP with a Georgia Satellites-like take on the Cash classic and it’s fine, but it also highlights the challenge the band hasn’t yet solved. Guitarist George Neyrey brings an ’80s guitar hero sensibility and compressed, distorted guitar sound to the song that suits the version, but it’s thin and leaves big sonic holes in other tracks. And harder songs like “Folsom Prison Blues” and “Hoot and Holler” sound as if they come from a different band than tuneful honky-tonk songs “Miss Maybe” and “Bad Side of Goodbye.” Serpas has the requisite twang in his voice and his songs have an unassuming, country boy charm. He understands his idiom well; it would be nice though, if he and the band decided more exactly what they are.