{"id":30389,"date":"2026-01-20T05:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T10:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=30389"},"modified":"2025-11-17T08:38:52","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T13:38:52","slug":"album-review-piper-the-good-times-good-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/20\/album-review-piper-the-good-times-good-company\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Piper & the Good Times \u2013 Good Company"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The core of this Nashville-based group \u2013 vocalist Al \u201cPiper\u201d Green, Steve Eagon on guitar, and drummer Dave Colella \u2013 has been together for two decades playing roots rock. With keyboardist Amy Frederick and bassist Parker Hawkins, they became Piper & the Hard Times. The band released its debut, Revelation<\/em> <\/a>in 2024. Combining a saucy New Orleans vibe and a blues sensibility, that album found the group digging into a deep groove.<\/p>\n

There wasn\u2019t anything especially novel or revolutionary about what the band did on Revelation<\/em>, but their traditionally-minded approach was heartfelt and well-executed. The album took the top spot on Billboard<\/em>\u2019s Blues Albums chart, and was named Best Emerging Artist Album at the Blues Music Awards. Piper & the Hard Times also earned the Best Band award at the 2024 International Blues Challenge in Memphis.<\/p>\n

Less than a year later the group has returned with Good Company<\/em>. It\u2019s another twelve-song collection of original tunes from the Green\/Eagon\/Colella triumvirate. As of this writing, the band\u2019s website mentions the album\u2019s release date for \u201cearly 2026,\u201d but it was pushed up to late August \u201825.<\/p>\n

Green\u2019s assured, husky vocals are out front on the title track that opens the album; the band provides sleek and solid instrumental support. The New Orleans flavor that characterized Revelation<\/em> is conspicuous in its absence; Good Company<\/em> is straight-ahead roots rock. “Now I\u2019m Lovin\u2019 You” puts honkin\u2019 sax and some searing lead guitar work out in front of a funky rhythm; here a contemporary N\u2019awlins vibe shows up to enliven the standard melodic framework. “Tear it Down” aims for a smoky vibe and largely hits its target; the song\u2019s feel suggests that it would work well in the band\u2019s live set.<\/p>\n

The lyrics of “Cowboy Gucci” seek to move the country and western aesthetic beyond clich\u00e9s about pickup trucks, jeans and \u2018Murica. The music itself is miles away from country, instead exploring a riff-based rock approach. The simmering “In the Meantime” applies subtlety to the band\u2019s delivery; the song\u2019s mix of loud and quiet elements makes it an effective number.<\/p>\n

Piper & the Hard Times get truly understated and bluesy on “Turn the Tables.” It\u2019s far from the party atmosphere that informs most of the group’s material, and features only the superbly soulful duo of Green and guitarist Eagon. It\u2019s the record\u2019s shortest track, and quite possibly its best as well.<\/p>\n

The festive vibe returns for “Runaround Man”; built around a kinetic guitar riff with some gurgling organ, it\u2019s a peppy execution of standard blues changes. “Cheatin\u2019s Gotta End” mines a swaying blues feel with a sharp melody and powerhouse vocal to match. The uptempo “Keep It to Yourself” is more party blues; reminiscent of the band\u2019s method on Revelation<\/em>, it\u2019s far from groundbreaking yet commits no sins.<\/p>\n

The sophisticated “Not Your Fault” is much stronger, with inventive stop-and-start arrangement, a saucy vocal and some of the album\u2019s best playing. The prominence of sax \u2013 always tasty sax, it should be emphasized \u2013 on the track and throughout the album does raise the question as to why a horn player isn\u2019t part of the band\u2019s official lineup.<\/p>\n

The band moves assertively toward rock on “My Place,” built around an appealing bass figure. Despite the lyric\u2019s exhortation to \u201clisten to the blues,\u201d the tune\u2019s circular guitar riff and prominent wah-wah pedal work take it far from the blues aesthetic. A gospel feel informs the album closer, “Those Days.” Green\u2019s extended spoken intro sets up a contemplative tune with some sentimental lyrics. It\u2019s a suitable wrap-up to a workmanlike and enjoyable album.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The core of this Nashville-based group \u2013 vocalist Al \u201cPiper\u201d Green, Steve Eagon on guitar, and drummer Dave Colella \u2013 has been together for two decades playing roots rock. With […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30390,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,49,65],"tags":[5552],"class_list":["post-30389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-new-release","category-review","tag-piper-the-hardtimes","cat-9-id","cat-49-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30389"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30389\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30391,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30389\/revisions\/30391"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}