Music - February 2009

Andy Mason, Lost Cowboy

Play "Fix It Up" from Lost Cowboy:

Genre: Country/Rockabilly

Story by Emily Drabanski

Singer-songwriter Andy Mason has legions of young fans—really young fans. He’s performed his children’s songs at 35 libraries here and in Texas. The Portales guitarist’s warm voice and clear, direct songwriting shine throughout his newest solo album, Lost Cowboy, which should attract an older crowd as well.

Just 19 miles down the road from Clovis, Portales-based Mason may just be the next generation of the Clovis sound, a term coined for musicians like Buddy Knox, the Fireballs, and Buddy Holly, who cut their hits at Norman Petty Studios in Clovis.

Mason’s country song “Fix It Up” will resonate with listeners in these tough times. He laments that he’d often like to buy something new, then sings his father’s advice: “Fix it up / Wear it out / Make do or do without.”

His funniest ditty is a rollicking rockabilly tune that’s also a vegetarian’s lament, “There’s Nothin’ to Eat in Tucumcari.” Well, there’s plenty, he explains, but “there’s burgers, steaks, chocolate milkshakes, / Kentucky Fried Chicken,
but don’t hit the brakes.”

Johnny Mulhair, whose recording style (he recorded LeAnn Rimes’s mega-hit, “Blue” in Clovis) and musicianship shine throughout, adds his lively steel drums to Mason’s upbeat “Streets of Portales.” Also included is an engaging rendition of “Alabama Night,” by the late Chuck Tharp. Mason says that Tharp, who was lead singer of the Fireballs, a Ratón group best known for “Sugar Shack,” their 1963 No. 1 single, asked Mason to record the song before he died. I’m so glad he did.

For info: www.andymasonmusic.org and www.cdbaby.com.