New music from Jerry Diaz & Hannah's Reef and Loren Davidson

Originally posted to http://crabislandmambo.com/

 

I spent some time – many years ago – living in Corpus Christi, not far from Jerry Diaz’s home on the South Texas Gulf coast. I loved the lifestyle, sailboats, wind surfing and Margaritas (why I left is a long story but involves thinking I needed to get somewhere less laid back if I wanted to develop a career. I know, stupid, right? Now, all I can think about is getting back to the beach!), While I was there, I also fell in love with Tex Mex music; Freddy Fender, the Texas Tornadoes, Joe King Carrasco. Which is just another reason why I love Jerry and Hannah’s Reef so much. They mix plenty of south of the border into their Trop Rock for something they appropriately call “Texas Beach Music”.

Named after a local Texas fishing spot, Hannah’s Reef  is Jerry on lead vocals and guitar, Mark Mireles on steel drums and acoustic guitar, Chuck Willingham on drums, Bobby Summers on Bass, Bud Byram on percussion, and Heli Martin on guitars. If there is a theme to Jerry Diaz and Hannah’s Reef’s latest cd, “On a Beach In Mexico”, which I guess can be said about most Trop Rock, it is escape… Songs like the title track, “Senoritaville”, and “Down To the Islands” are all about packing your bags and heading to somewhere with sand, sun and drinks with salted rims. In “Down To The islands”, the singer is “stuck somewhere in Arkansas” and says, “I’m a restless soul in a watering hole, drinking rum just to get away” then offers “When my ship comes in, I’m gonna jump right in. I can’t wait to get outta here”.

The desire to leave what ails you behind and head to “a place to go when you’ve had your fill of honey do’s and honey don’ts” continues in “Welcome to Senoritaville” where the singer is down on his luck, “broker than hell” and the IRS is “moving in any day”. Then the answer hits him, “a flight down to Laredo was just what I needed”. And in “On a Beach In Mexico”, the singer dreams of  “tropical islands and places I wanna be” while suffering under a “Cold Nebraska sky”.  

But the songs on “On a Beach In Mexico” aren’t simply about wanting to swap a bad situation for a better one, they’re also about the flip side: thoroughly enjoying a really good situation: “I’ve got something money can’t buy, a good lovin’ woman standing by my side” (“I’ve Got Love”), as well as making the best of the hand you’re dealt:  “Just give me ten to twenty, and I’ll feel just fine. The wind at my back and a bottle of wine” (“Ten To Twenty”) and “If  there’s beer in the cooler, I’ll be alright” (“Beer In The Cooler”).  Wrapping up the cd is a staple of Hannah’s Reef live shows, “We’ll Get By” – which features a guest appearance by John Reno. Think of it as a Margarita glass half-full kind of tune, with lines like, “Well it takes me nearly all I’ve got,  just to make ends meet”and “But that’s ok, come what may, we’ll get by”. Amen, brother.

If you want to make music for a living, writing and recording is just PART of the process. You also need to PROMOTE. And few people work harder at it than California’s Loren Davidson. Anytime I post something on Facebook asking artists to submit information for my blog, “Beaches, Bands & Bars” or music for my BeachFrontRadio show, “Trop Rockin’ Live”, Loren is always one of the first people to respond. The title of latest cd, “Of All the Rum Joints” and one of the songs on the cd, “Looking at You” are both nods to my favorite movie of all time, Casablanca. Produced, engineered and mixed by popular Trop Pock producer, Kevin Johnson at Orca Sound in Maryland, “Of All the Rum Joints” features eleven original songs written by Loren, plus two covers – The Doors’ “Moonlight Drive” and “Sunshine on My Shoulder” from John Denver. The originals are some of Loren’s best ever – “Voodoo Lounge” has a bluesy, back alley New Orleans vibe, “Fly Away” wouldn’t sound out of place on a Zac Brown Band cd, and “One More Rum” is a clap along tune about the trials and tribulations of being a live performer in a room full of party people who want to buy you drinks all night.

 

You can hear music from Jerry Diaz/Hannah’s Reef and Loren Davidson on my show, “Trop Rockin’ Live”, which airs every Thursday and Sunday night on BeachFrontRadio.com…