Way Out Yonder

by Sons of the San Joaquin

Overview

In this day and age, it's hard to sing cowboy songs in the manner of the Sons of the Pioneers and not sound either campy or a bit delusional, and it's a tribute to their great love of the form that the Sons of the San Joaquin not only approach their material with superb craft but a sincerity and commitment that rings clear and true every time they go into the recording studio. Released in 2006, Way Out Yonder is the trio's seventh album, and finds the Sons at the top of their game as the finest cowboy act around today. While brothers Jack and Joe Hannah and Joe's son Lon Hannah harmonize beautifully, it's Jack's emphatic lead vocals and fine songwriting that truly set this group apart -- if he's not the leader of the group, he's certainly first among equals, and he understands the musical and iconographic history of the American West well enough to write songs like "The Famous Long X Brand," "It's the Open Range for Me," and "Way Out Yonder" with an immediacy and heart that strip away any patina of cheap nostalgia. It's also a testament to the Sons of the San Joaquin's talents that they can perform covers of such classics as "Mexicali Rose" and "There's a Rainbow Over the Range" and make them fit effortlessly alongside Jack's originals, and that their clean but uncluttered new recordings can draw the same sort of emotional impact as the originals. Way Out Yonder is a fine recording from a group that's truly the best at what it does, and it's a gentle pleasure to hear. ~ Mark Deming

Product Details

Release Date:	01/10/2006
Label:	Dualtone Music
UPC:	0803020121324
Rank:	84429

Tracks

1. There's a Rainbow Over the Range
2. Ridin' Up the Glory Trail
3. Song from Nara Visa
4. The Famous Long X Brand
5. Santa Fe Lights
6. The Ballad of Joaquin Murrieta
7. Little Cowboy
8. It's the Open Range for Me
9. A Cowboy's Heart Is in the Saddle
10. Mexicali Rose
11. The Lord of the Rollin' Hills
12. Way Out Yonder
13. Where the Very Same Cottonwoods Grow

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Sons of the San Joaquin   Primary Artist
Mark Abbott   Bass (Electric),Bass
Ronnie Ellis   Bass (Electric)
Dennis Mack   Bass (Electric),Bass
Steve Story   Fiddle,Fiddle
Tim Johnson   Fiddle,Fiddle
Rich O'Brien   Percussion,Mandolin,Guitar,Dobro,Banjo
Kevin Sherbon   Trumpet
Ginny Mae   Accordion
Lon Hannah   Guitar
Richard Chon   Fiddle
Ronny Shultz   Trumpet
Randy "The Owl" Elmore   Fiddle

Technical Credits

Rich O'Brien   Audio Production,Producer
Eric Sherbon   Audio Engineer,Engineer
Butch Hause   Engineer
David Glasser   Mastering
Johnny Western   Liner Notes
Tim Spencer   Composer
Russ Pate   Producer
Helen Stone   Composer
Bill Thornbury   Composer
Kenn Lee   Composer