05/10/2025
From Lonesome Highway, thanks for listening.
Petunia & The Vipers Callin’ Me Back Self Release
The latest release from this combo will delight existing fans and make new ones of those who may love the mix of hillbilly and swing sounds. It’s a fifteen track record that covers the use of the expanded line up to include a dedicated horn section of players that feature trumpet, tuba, trombone, saxophone, clarinet and French horn. Those acquainted with Petunia’s mostly original songs (there are also two contributions from Devin Champlin and a Jimmie Rogers co-write included) will immediately recognise that they are sung in his distinctive voice and phrasing.
The title track is a winner that cuts up some dust with the guitar/lapsteel sound of longtime studio regulars Stephen Nikleva and Jimmy Roy, also here from that long-time relationship is drummer Paul Townsend. The upright bassist joining them here is Joseph Lubinsky-Mast. This is the core of the band, to which the additional players add layers of sound and seasoning. This is pretty much where they have been since issuing the first album back after the turn of the century. There have been a half dozen albums under that joint banner, as well as an equal number under Petunia’s own name, all offering a glimpse to the past and a view of an alternative future.
If you have ever liked the likes of Ray Condo, Pokey LaFarge, JD Wilkes, Paul Burch, Big Sandy and other purveyors of a individual mix of folk, blues, swing, rockabilly, New Orleans jazz and traditional Hank Williams Sr influenced country, then this album will likely find you settling into its insidious rhythms and enjoying its rhymes and reasons. However it is the songs, direction and vision of Petunia that are the focus point of everything happening. He is, quite obviously, the master of ceremonies and the heart of his music. Make no mistake - while this may not be seen as the cutting edge of country, it is, in its own way, as innovative as those who are adding hip-hop and pop to try and subvert the genre. Rather this is something that is underscoring its seminal roots. In that light it certainly won’t be for everyone, but for others it will be calling them back to a time and place that feels right.
This Vancouver based artist has worked for some time with co-producer Steve Loree, who is himself well know for his role in alt-country band Jr. Gone Wild, and he brings something of that spirit to his production here. This album was initially scheduled for release some five years back but, as with a number of projects, it was put on hold until now. For some releases, such a delay might be something of a disaster but, thought it meant things didn’t go as planned back then, the music has such a timeless quality that it didn’t lose any of its essence. The song Billy The Kid tells the story of an Old West legend with a sonic sensibility that fits the theme to a ‘t’, while The Blue Yodel Blues takes a very different approach that channels Jimmie Rodgers and shows off Petunia’s yodelling skills too. Another song that takes the message of the lovelorn and lonely into an orchestral setting that sounds like it should have been a feature of a past cherished musical is the final track Inside Of You. It emotes that “Feeling like a loner when I walk down the street /For feeling like a loner, this song came to me / Now I cry out for all our souls, for all to claim one as their own / An invitation that only goes out to the brave.” It also underlines that Petunia is a songwriter of no small skill.
Petunia has mentioned that he learns from inspirational writers and singers until he begins to feel that a song in that character begins to emerge and then he hones that to the final songs we hear here. It became a less self-conscious process and is now his modus operandi, which he can then bring to the stage. He has been working this way in the studio and stage for many years now. That calling is something we can be grateful for.
Stephen Rapid
