The Winger Brothers
Live At T Eddies
As I write this on a cloudy, overcast Sunday morning in Louisville, I’m sitting at my desk looking at a depressed backyard that is covered with swampy overflows of spongy terrain topped with enough downed branches and sticks to build a god damned fort. The coffee I purchased from Speedway is just good enough to propel this experience to a pleasant one. Considering that this is a weirdly pleasurable state of mind, I figure now is as good a time as ever to look for a new album to absorb, and maybe be inclined to write down a few words describing how it makes me feel. You know, like a record review? Yeah, we do those here sometimes.
Thankfully, this is how I fell ass-backwards into the latest release from The Winger Brothers. I scrolled through the new releases on Bandcamp and found Live At T Eddies, and thought “fuck it — there’s nothing better on a Sunday morning than a cup of shitty coffee and some good old fashioned country music”. Considering that this band has been together now for several years, it’s a bit strange that they haven’t released a proper record, at least not that I’m aware of. I have the digital singles they’ve released, and I’ve seen the band perform a handful of times (always a great experience), but it never occurred to me that this might be the best way for this band to present a collection of songs — a live recording that truly captures the off-the-cuff energy that The Winger Brothers have become known and loved for.
Expertly recorded and tightly executed, the band manages to put their sad, sappy aesthetic on full display without sounding like a bunch of annoying assholes. For me, that’s a tight rope to walk, but singer Jordan Humbert emotes a warm charisma that’ll have you singing along, tapping your feet as you open another beer. My favorite song is “The Drinks Are On Me”, a tune that celebrates the meager accomplishments in life by offering to pick up everyone’s tab. Hell yeah.
I also really like opener “Wrecked My Pickup Truck”, a sappy country tune that has what might be my favorite line on the whole album: “I got drunk last night, don’t know what I did. This black eye tells me I didn’t win.” Who can’t relate to that? Who hasn’t had a shitty, booze-fueled night full of bad decisions and assholery? And then had to figure out what the hell happened the morning after?
This album is for fans of classic country artists like Merle Haggard and George Jones, or anyone that may be down on their luck in need of some company — this album, along with just about everything The Winger Brothers has to offer, is tailor made just for you. Highly recommended.
Listen to Live At T Eddies below via Spotify.
