Americana Music Reviews

Justin Trevino
The Scene of the Crying
Lone Star Records/Texas Music Group
by Samuel L. Wereb

"Justin Trevino loves country music," his record company's obligatory biography announces.

I've done a bit of copy writing in my time, and I hate when they try to gild the lily like that. At Rockzillaworld, we actually listen to these CDs (usually many times) before we start writing about them and I don't see the need to be nudged toward any such obvious conclusions. If he didn't love it, why the hell would he devote his life to it?

Ordinarily, it might be entirely sufficient to begin this review by saying something about Trevino being a talented musician. There is no doubt that he is, but in this case that doesn't say quite enough. His bio also points out that he has been blind from birth. Now, that information actually is helpful, and it gives me a certain insight I hadn't had when I first spun the disc. It certainly adds a hell of a lot of more significance to the glib liner note, "Produced, engineered and mixed by Justin Trevino."

Trevino is a traditional country music stylist along the lines of Ray Price or George Jones. He sings a lot like Price and his delivery is dead-on in a clear, note-perfect Gentleman Jim Reeves fashion. He's got the chops to sing just about anything and should be taken seriously. Even a hack with a tin ear like my own can tell that he loves country music just by his choice of style.

The Scene of the Crying, his third release, features twelve classic honky-tonk and dance hall numbers, some old and some modern. They make nice showcases for his musicianship and Trevino adds a lot to them with his own distinctive and emotive voice. This is a case where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I've heard many of these tunes done before and Trevino makes them far more interesting than I had remembered them. It's a fine record, and one that is bound to win over many more traditional country music fans.

Trevino could well have carried off a good album as the sole vocalist, but he's blessed this one even further with a nice duet with Wanda Jackson on her song, "What Have We Done," and an even better one with Jimmy C. Newman on "Daydreaming." It is understood that these artists don't screw around with lightweights, so one can consider their presence as an additional indication of the quality of this recording.

Trevino says that it's long been his dream to eventually sing with all of his favorite musical heroes, and this is a good start. I don't think it should be his highest priority, however. He's talented in his own right and can do very well on his own. These duets are nice bonuses on this record, but Trevino still does his best singing by himself, particularly on "Two Empty Glasses," "Rest of My Years," and "Old Faithful."

Trevino plays a lot of gigs with his friend and mentor, Johnny Bush, both as the opening act and as his bass player. Plenty of his friends chip in and help on this record and they definitely add some whiskey to the punch. They've brewed a lot of musical texture and musicianship into these recordings. These songs were originally popularized by the likes of Tammy Wynette, George Jones, Johnny Cash and Mel Tillis. Trevino has his own way of refreshing them and makes them shine like new pennies.

I have a profound respect for the extraordinarily rare combination of artistic talent and hard work. It's nice to see someone bust his ass and deservedly make it in the music business. Trevino has a nice, vibrant tenor and he has clearly trained it perfectly for this music. Brownsville born and Austin raised, he has been playing professionally for almost half his life. He started learning to play guitar at age seven, by thirteen he had his first paying gig, and at fifteen had put together a real band. Johnny Bush discovered him when he was only sixteen and was by all accounts impressed.

I found this old quote from Bush, which documents his impression of Justin before he had a bona fide recording deal: "Justin Trevino is the utmost undiscovered talent, a diamond in a field of zircons known today as country music." Well, they've discovered the hell out of him now, and that is primarily due to Johnny Bush having an ear for talent and the graciousness to give this young man a much-needed boost.

Trevino is also mixed up with the Cornell Hurd Band and I bet they have a blast tearing up honky-tonks from Dallas to Houston. That, and freezing my ass off here in Ohio, makes me wish I could go hear him play live.

There's no good reason most of you can't. Have a look at www.cornellhurdband.com for some upcoming shows, or go to www.txmusicgroup.com to buy this CD. They're only asking ten dollars for it, and there's a lot of good singing here for ten bucks.

 
Read the Rockzillaworld Guestbook
Sign the Rockzillaworld Guestbook