For months I have been telling anyone who will listen that Drew Kennedy’s Dollar Theatre Movie album is going to be a landmark for our scene. I haven’t been this excited about a project since Randy Rogers Band was recording Rollercoaster. Dollar Theater Movie (release date March 27) is a genre-bending tour through small towns, big cities, dark corners of your mind and your happiest memories, and sometimes all those things at once. Check out the full review to see what all the hype's been about. Pre-order the album now at lonestarmusic.com, and make plans to see Drew live at GreenFest and beyond.

-Brad

Kennedy wrote all the tunes on the album himself, with co-writing credits on just two of the thirteen tracks (“Can’t Slow Down” and “Take Me Home”). An all-star cast of musicians contributed to the production of Gerald Boyd. Those contributing in one manner or another are: Keith Gattis, Bruce Robison, Kelly Willis, Fallon Franklin, Noah Jeffries, David Neuhauser, and Chip Dolan. These gifted artists combined with Kennedy and others to produce one of the coolest sounding records to ever hit our scene. The scope and sound of the album is broad, yet always completely focused on the exceptional songwriting of Kennedy.

“One To Blame” kicks off the album. The stark, thumping acoustic guitar backed by the thick bass line and fronted by the booming baritone of Kennedy is a precursor to the magic in the rest of the record. This song gives Kennedy an opportunity to display his vocal range on one of the catchier melodies on the record. While the lyrics on this song are straight forward, there is the slightest amount of ambiguity that lends itself to the listener’s own personal interpretation: the classic sign of a great songwriter at work.

“Ramblin’ Heart” follows as the second track and it is the most upbeat of the collection. It contains the most traditional country instrumentation and arrangement and is a fresh spin on the played out musician on the road sub-genre of country songwriting. The rollicking music is a fitting backdrop for the tune. Kennedy displays a keen knack on this song and others in his collection for bringing a new take to tired subjects. The third song you’ll find on the album is the sad ballad “Goodbye”. It is the tale of a relationship gone bad and one party leaving the other. The music on this track builds up to dizzying heights only to come crashing down in relation to the depth of the lyrics. Kennedy expresses the emotion of the material via lyrics oozing with gritty realism. In the song, a man leaves the woman he loves because he feels as though he’s not good enough for her. Tragic and vivid storytelling such as this is found throughout the album, but may be at its peak here. The Steve Earle tinged “Good Things” clocks in at track four and is one of those life philosophy songs that you hear from artists sometimes that make you go “Why didn’t I think of saying that, that way?” several times throughout the song. It has a distinct Steve Earle vibe

Kennedy is a transplanted Virginian, and one of his first experiences living in Texas was living in Baytown. He quickly realized this was not the Texas living he had dreamed of back in his hometown. Before heading to the Texas Hill Country, Kennedy played some unforgettable gigs and enjoyed some unique experiences. Out of those experiences, he has crafted “Baytown,” a song about self-doubt, life’s deeper questions and what’s important in one’s life. Saxophone is not an instrument one usually finds on your favorite country or Americana record, yet here it is. And it fits masterfully with the rest of the instruments on this tune, especially the B3 organ. As the song comes to a close, you’ll find yourself wanting to “sail out to Baytown.” Musicians are notoriously lovelorn and homesick; “I’ll Make It Home” is Kennedy’s ode to the troubadour lifestyle and missing his own bed and wife. It is a sweet song that recounts how badly he just wants to make the long drive home from his gig to be there in time to say goodnight before the sun comes up.

Sometimes when you’re listening to an album, around track 7 is the time you start hearing filler. That is not the case with Dollar Theatre Movie. I feel as if this is when the earthy heart of this record starts beating most soundly. “The New Me” is a tune that deals with that period of your life when you discover just exactly what your calling is. Kennedy wrote it around the time he realized that he was going to be a full-time musician and not exactly don that coat and tie so many thought he should, among other things.

“Can’t Slow Down,” written with Claire Cunningham, may just be the best track on this record. It begins with a haunting piano and blossoms into something that is still haunting yet beautiful and magical all at once. It has a very Matchbox Twenty/Ben Folds/Goo Goo Dolls vibe. When I first received my advance copy, I listened to the whole album through three times; then I kept going back to “Can’t Slow Down”—I couldn’t get it out of my head…and I still can’t. I’d heard it countless times at live shows and each time it was like hearing it anew. Give it a listen and see for yourself. The lush instrumentation including strings, keys and a melodic guitar will play in your head days after the last time you heard the song.

Track nine on the album is “Like a Thief”, an upbeat break-up tune about wishing your ex would be discreet enough to break your heart in the dark instead of with an audience. It’s a clever hook that my description does not do justice. On this song, Kennedy’s voice bounces around the bopping rhythms laid out by his accomplished studio mates. “The Last Waltz” complete with some sad yodeling is exactly what the title suggests. A slow waltz with a mysterious vibe about a vividly recalled honky-tonk that is closing the doors after countless years and couples had spun around the old hardwood floor. Waltzes aren’t exactly en vogue in 2007, and Charlie Robison along with Robert Earl Keen are the most recent examples to have pulled them off successfully with our kind of music. Add Drew Kennedy’s name to that list. “The Last Waltz” is everything the title suggests and more.

When Drew Kennedy first decided to take the artistic plunge and move to Texas, he quickly became friends with Peter Dawson. Out of this friendship blossomed some of the most fantastic live shows the Hill Country witnessed for quite a few years. The twosome took the energy and bond of their friendship and stage show, and put pen to paper. The two wrote the classic “Travis County Heartbreak” for Dawson’s “Live at Coupland” effort, and on Dollar Theatre Movie, the two have combined for another standout tune. “Take Me Home” is the first single from Dollar Theatre Movie. It is a classic tale of ditching the concrete jungles in which we live to hit some dirt roads and grab some good times. "Tomorrow’s Not Tonight” is a clever Todd Snider-esque tune about “tomorrow I can worry, but tomorrow’s not tonight.” The song affords Kennedy a chance to explore his vocal range reaching up high to crash down low a lot like he does on “Can’t Slow Down”

The album closes out with “Second Time Around”, the track from which the album’s title comes. The song is about second chances, no matter what form they come in. Going home again, a second marriage, used cars, and other examples Kennedy uses to illustrate that throughout life we all require a second chance at times. It is a fitting end to an excellent album, from an artist asking music fans of this scene and beyond to give him a first chance.

After several years of cultivating a devoted and loyal fan base via many nights playing to empty bars and chasing many miles of Texas highway to get back home from those late-night gigs, Kennedy is cashing in on the promise that first drew him to Texas. This album is a testament to determination and talent. Dollar Theatre Movie does not just represent a great musical accomplishment for Drew Kennedy; it signifies a change in our scene yet again. From the good time Jerry Jeff revivalism of Pat Green, to the Southern Rock revamp of Cross Canadian Ragweed, and the Roots Rock/Honky Tonk blend of the Randy Rogers Band, our scene has continually evolved and craved the next big sound or artist. Starting with the Randy Rogers Band and continued with the consistent rise of Brandon Rhyder, the pendulum has swung in the favor of great songwriting over party anthems. Kennedy is taking the scene and himself to the next rung with this album. The influences on this record are equal parts Ryan Adams, Johnny Cash, Bruce Robison and Walt Wilkins, yet it’s entirely Drew Kennedy. Drew Kennedy has struck a nerve with a cosmopolitan spin of sublimely original sounds and songs that translates to the next big sound and artist inTexas/Red Dirt/Americana/Country music.

-Brad