http://digitalhippos.com/music-review/country/review-good-luck-and-true-love-reckless-kelly

Written by Timon Sotiropoulos     September 14, 2011

Everyone once in a while I get the opportunity to listen to something that I wouldn’t normally be exposed too. It isn’t often that I would head into a record store and pick up a country album, but Austin-based band Reckless Kelly just might make me change my tune. After listening to this exciting, heart-warming Texan soul, my eyes are well and truly open to the country world.

Good Luck & True Love has enough pop in it to not scare away new prospectors, but still has the country backbeat that the genre is known for. The new single (titled after the album) “Good Luck & True Love” is the perfect example of what Reckless Kelly has been doing for 15 years, and that is producing excellent country records. The storytelling lyrics about true love, the call and response pre-chorus with the band, even to the lovely, laid-back guitar solo, everything nails the country sound on the head that these gentlemen have made their own.

While most of the tracks fall into this parameter of what Reckless Kelly does really well, the few songs that really caught my ears were the ones where they tried something a little different. “I Never Liked St.Valentine” is an interesting song about never having a valentine (something I can relate all to well too) that has a mix of spoken-word verses to make it a little less informal. Also being a sucker for any fiddle or violin, “Weatherbeaten Soul” was given this real sad undertone thanks to some excellent violin work. There is also a classic ballad (also making use of the violin) in “I Stayed Up All Night Again”, while on the flip side “She Likes Money, He Likes Love” is this rocky driven, up-tempo tune that is quite different to the rest of the album. Still the genius thing about all these little differences is that Reckless Kelly don’t forget their country roots that still blossom throughout the entire album.

Overall Reckless Kelly’s new album Good Luck & True Love is a great country album with a few little sprinkles of other genres here and there. It has enough pop to give everyone something to listen to, but country fans will fall head over heels for this next installment in the glittered career of Reckless Kelly.

Good Luck & True Love is available online for digital download.

Perfect album in the eyes of a country listener and is a great album to throw on, take the cowboy boots off and put your feet up. Only improvement could have been to try and stretch the genre a little further then they did, but that doesn’t detract from this being a brilliant country album.

As Reckless Kelly–known for straddling rock and country with strong songs and performances–get set for their return with the September 13 release of their ninth album Good Luck & True Love, the band has announced additional tour dates and other events. Reckless Kelly now has 40 dates booked–beginning 9/3 in Ft. Worth, TX through 12/31 in Donnelly, ID–and have been invited to play a special post-game concert at Major League Baseball’s Houston Astros 9/23 home game.  They’ll also perform October 1 at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.  Reckless Kelly also recently posted a sizzle reel with interviews and archive footage of the band’s storied 15-year career.  Check it outhere.  In only its third week of release, the new album’s first single “Good Luck & True Love” is already #19 on the Texas Music Chart.

In the clip–set to the sound of the album’s title track and first single–Reckless Kelly talk about producing the album themselves, starting their own record company (No Big Deal Records) and taking over all of the band’s responsibilities.  There are also photos of the group with the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders when they performed at a 2011 Super Bowl party in Dallas, TX, performing at Boston’s Fenway Stadium and Houston’s Reliant Stadium, touring the country and more.

Good Luck & True Love marks the Austin-based band’s first studio album of all-new material since 2008’sBulletproof and is the follow-up to their 2010 release Somewhere In Time, a tribute to one of their songwriter heroes, Pinto Bennett.  Both of those albums hit the top 5 on the Billboard “Heatseekers” chart and top 20 on the Americana charts and Somewhere In Time was voted the #10 best album of the year by the Americana Music Association in 2010.  Last week A&E’s hit show “The Glades” featured the song “I’ve Done Everything I Could Do Wrong” from Somewhere In Time.

Beyond their studio acumen, the band is renowned for their relentless touring and high-energy live shows.   “Reckless Kelly is one of the best live bands ever,” said the Bakersfield Californian of a recent concert, adding that “they’re profoundly good, but, as is the case with any really good band, the magic is in the live shows (8/17/11).” 

After having released music via Sugar Hill and Yep Roc Records, Reckless Kelly–Willy Braun, lead vocals/rhythm guitar/Wurlitzer piano; Cody Braun, fiddle/mandolin/harmonica/bouzouki/harmony vocals; David Abeyta, lead guitar & piano; Jay Nazz, drums & percussion; and Chris Schelske, bass guitar–are now releasing the self-produced Good Luck & True Love on their own, and are now self-managed.

 “In 15 years as Reckless Kelly we’ve had to learn things the hard way and figure out what works for us and what doesn’t,” says the band.  “Trial and error.  We’ve always recorded to 2-inch analogue tape and we’ve always earned our fans one at a time. (Grass roots baby!) Over the years we’ve dabbled in conventional methods of promotion, touring and, of course, recording. Starting a record company and releasing our own records is something we have strived for our entire carrier. Now we feel we are finally in the perfect position with our business and band and are doing just that.”

Music News Nashville

As RECKLESS KELLY–known for straddling rock and country with strong songs and performances–get set for their return with the September 13 release of their ninth album GOOD LUCK & TRUE LOVE, the band has announced additional tour dates and other events. RECKLESS KELLY now has 40 dates booked–beginning 9/3 in Ft. Worth, TX through 12/31 in Donnelly, ID–and have been invited to play a special post-game concert at Major League Baseball’s Houston Astros 9/23 home game.  They’ll also perform October 1 at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.  RECKLESS KELLY also recently posted a sizzle reel with interviews and archive footage of the band’s storied 15-year career.  Check it out here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UnkizhEDjs.  In only its third week of release, the new album’s first single “Good Luck & True Love” is already #19 on the Texas Music Chart.

In the clip–set to the sound of the album’s title track and first single–RECKLESS KELLY talk about producing the album themselves, starting their own record company (No Big Deal Records) and taking over all of the band’s responsibilities.  There are also photos of the group with the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders when they performed at a 2011 Super Bowl party in Dallas, TX, performing at Boston’s Fenway Stadium and Houston’s Reliant Stadium, touring the country and more.

GOOD LUCK & TRUE LOVE marks the Austin-based band’s first studio album of all-new material since 2008’s Bulletproof and is the follow-up to their 2010 release Somewhere In Time, a tribute to one of their songwriter heroes, Pinto Bennett.  Both of those albums hit the top 5 on the Billboard “Heatseekers” chart and top 20 on the Americana charts and Somewhere In Time was voted the #10 best album of the year by the Americana Music Association in 2010.  Last week A&E’s hit show “The Glades” featured the song “I’ve Done Everything I Could Do Wrong” from Somewhere In Time.

Beyond their studio acumen, the band is renowned for their relentless touring and high-energy live shows.   “Reckless Kelly is one of the best live bands ever,” said the Bakersfield Californian of a recent concert, adding that “they’re profoundly good, but, as is the case with any really good band, the magic is in the live shows (8/17/11).”

After having released music via Sugar Hill and Yep Roc Records, RECKLESS KELLY–Willy Braun, lead vocals/rhythm guitar/Wurlitzer piano; Cody Braun, fiddle/mandolin/harmonica/bouzouki/harmony vocals; David Abeyta, lead guitar & piano; Jay Nazz, drums & percussion; and Chris Schelske, bass guitar–are now releasing the self-produced GOOD LUCK & TRUE LOVE on their own, and are now self-managed. “In 15 years as RECKLESS KELLY we’ve had to learn things the hard way and figure out what works for us and what doesn’t,” says the band.  “Trial and error.  We’ve always recorded to 2-inch analogue tape and we’ve always earned our fans one at a time. (Grass roots baby!) Over the years we’ve dabbled in conventional methods of promotion, touring and, of course, recording. Starting a record company and releasing our own records is something we have strived for our entire carrier. Now we feel we are finally in the perfect position with our business and band and are doing just that.”

GOOD LUCK & TRUE LOVE is quintessential RECKLESS KELLY with a blend of the gritty and the sublime.  There are road songs (“Weatherbeaten Soul,” “Hit The Ground Running”), tunes about music (“New Moon Over Nashville,” “I Stayed Up All Night Again”) and others about hard times (“Save Me From Myself”) and good old-fashioned heartbreak (“Give It A Try,” “Guarded Heart,” “She Likes Money, He Likes Love” and “I Never Liked St. Valentine”).  “Taking our old school approach a little bit further on this record, we made a rule that if someone in the band can’t play it, it’s not going on the record,” explains the band.  “We are proud to say that with the exception of an outstanding harmony vocal by our good friend Dani Flowers, we played every instrument on this record and tracked almost everything live.”

RECKLESS KELLY formed in Bend, OR in 1996 but quickly established themselves as a strong live act in and around Austin, TX and have been praised by Country Weekly for “injecting its hooky songs with rock ’n’ roll propulsion without sacrificing melody or meaning” (2009 review of Bulletproof).  Michael Corcoran of the Austin American Statesman called them “a rock band that writes country songs” and said “Bulletproof is an aggressive album with an anti-war song that outprotests James McMurtry. Even in the most stagnant of subgenres (alt-country), the Kellies strive to remain fresh…(6/11/08)”

Bulletproof earned the group a #1 Americana and #1 Texas Charts song spot with “Ragged As The Road.”  That album also earned them an Americana Music Association nomination for “Duo or Group of the Year (2009).”

From Monstersandcritics.com

By April MacIntyre Aug 31, 2011, 20:02 GMT

The band Reckless Kelly–known for straddling rock and country with strong songs and performances–get set for their return with the September 13 release of their ninth album “Good Luck & True Love.”

Also, the band has announced additional tour dates and other events.

Reckless Kelly now has 40 dates booked–beginning 9/3 in Ft. Worth, TX through 12/31 in Donnelly, ID–and have been invited to play a special post-game concert at Major League Baseball’s Houston Astros 9/23 home game.

They’ll also perform October 1 at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.

In only its third week of release, the new album’s first single “Good Luck & True Love” is already #19 on the Texas Music Chart.

In the clip–set to the sound of the album’s title track and first single–the band talk about producing the album themselves, starting their own record company (No Big Deal Records) and taking over all of the band’s responsibilities.

There are also photos of the group with the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders when they performed at a 2011 Super Bowl party in Dallas, TX, performing at Boston’s Fenway Stadium and Houston’s Reliant Stadium, touring the country and more.

After having released music via Sugar Hill and Yep Roc Records, Reckless Kelly–Willy Braun, lead vocals/rhythm guitar/Wurlitzer piano; Cody Braun, fiddle/mandolin/harmonica/bouzouki/harmony vocals; David Abeyta, lead guitar & piano; Jay Nazz, drums & percussion; and Chris Schelske, bass guitar–are now releasing the self-produced Good Luck & True Love on their own, and are now self-managed.

Good Luck & True Love marks the Austin-based band’s first studio album of all-new material since 2008’s Bulletproof and is the follow-up to their 2010 release Somewhere In Time, a tribute to one of their songwriter heroes, Pinto Bennett.

Both of those albums hit the top 5 on the Billboard “Heatseekers” chart and top 20 on the Americana charts and Somewhere In Time was voted the #10 best album of the year by the Americana Music Association in 2010.  Last week A&E’s hit show “The Glades” featured the song “I’ve Done Everything I Could Do Wrong” from Somewhere In Time.

“Reckless Kelly is one of the best live bands ever,” said the Bakersfield Californian of a recent concert, adding that “they’re profoundly good, but, as is the case with any really good band, the magic is in the live shows (8/17/11).”

“In 15 years as Reckless Kelly we’ve had to learn things the hard way and figure out what works for us and what doesn’t,” says the band.  “Trial and error.  We’ve always recorded to 2-inch analogue tape and we’ve always earned our fans one at a time. (Grass roots baby!) Over the years we’ve dabbled in conventional methods of promotion, touring and, of course, recording. Starting a record company and releasing our own records is something we have strived for our entire carrier. Now we feel we are finally in the perfect position with our business and band and are doing just that.”

Good Luck & True Love is filled with road songs (“Weatherbeaten Soul,” “Hit The Ground Running”), tunes about music (“New Moon Over Nashville,” “I Stayed Up All Night Again”) and others about hard times (“Save Me From Myself”) and good old-fashioned heartbreak (“Give It A Try,” “Guarded Heart,” “She Likes Money, He Likes Love” and “I Never Liked St. Valentine”).

“Taking our old school approach a little bit further on this record, we made a rule that if someone in the band can’t play it, it’s not going on the record,” explains the band.  “We are proud to say that with the exception of an outstanding harmony vocal by our good friend Dani Flowers, we played every instrument on this record and tracked almost everything live.”

Originally from Oregon, now an Austin band, Reckless Kelly was praised by Country Weekly for “injecting its hooky songs with rock ’n’ roll propulsion without sacrificing melody or meaning” (2009 review of Bulletproof).

Michael Corcoran of the Austin American Statesman called them “a rock band that writes country songs” and said “Bulletproof is an aggressive album with an anti-war song that outprotests James McMurtry. Even in the most stagnant of subgenres (alt-country), the Kellies strive to remain fresh…(6/11/08)”

Bulletproof earned the group a #1 Americana and #1 Texas Charts song spot with “Ragged As The Road.”  That album also earned them an Americana Music Association nomination for “Duo or Group of the Year (2009).”

August 31, 2011

 Reckless Kelly Wishes Their Fans Good Luck and True Love

 by Jermy Leeuwis,

Reckless Kelly is set to release their seventh studio album “Good Luck & True Love” on September 13th. This is the first release on their own and are, after 15 years, self-managed. Ten days before that the band will start on a 40 dates tour. The first single has already entered the Texas Music Chart on #19 position.

 

“In 15 years as RECKLESS KELLY we’ve had to learn things the hard way and figure out what works for us and what doesn’t,” says the band. “Trial and error. We’ve always recorded to 2-inch analogue tape and we’ve always earned our fans one at a time. (Grass roots baby!) Over the years we’ve dabbled in conventional methods of promotion, touring and, of course, recording. Starting a record company and releasing our own records is something we have strived for our entire carrier. Now we feel we are finally in the perfect position with our business and band and are doing just that.”

GOOD LUCK & TRUE LOVE is quintessential RECKLESS KELLY with a blend of the gritty and the sublime. There are road songs (“Weatherbeaten Soul,” “Hit The Ground Running”), tunes about music (“New Moon Over Nashville,” “I Stayed Up All Night Again”) and others about hard times (“Save Me From Myself”) and good old-fashioned heartbreak (“Give It A Try,” “Guarded Heart,” “She Likes Money, He Likes Love” and “I Never Liked St. Valentine”). “Taking our old school approach a little bit further on this record, we made a rule that if someone in the band can’t play it, it’s not going on the record,” explains the band. “We are proud to say that with the exception of an outstanding harmony vocal by our good friend Dani Flowers, we played every instrument on this record and tracked almost everything live.”

RECKLESS KELLY formed in Bend, OR in 1996 but quickly established themselves as a strong live act in and around Austin, TX and have been praised by Country Weekly for “injecting its hooky songs with rock ’n’ roll propulsion without sacrificing melody or meaning” (2009 review of Bulletproof). Michael Corcoran of the Austin American Statesman called them “a rock band that writes country songs” and said “Bulletproof is an aggressive album with an anti-war song that outprotests James McMurtry. Even in the most stagnant of subgenres (alt-country), the Kellies strive to remain fresh…(6/11/08)”

Bulletproof earned the group a #1 Americana and #1 Texas Charts song spot with “Ragged As The Road.” That album also earned them an Americana Music Association nomination for “Duo or Group of the Year (2009).”

Texas country aficionados rejoice, because the world’s best Red Dirt band is bringing fans “Good Luck & True Love” with a new album. Reckless Kelly carefully planned every detail on the project, including one of the best CD packages of any country album this year.

Great cover art is important, but it’s the music that matters most to Reckless Kelly, and the album begins with the mid-tempo, Red Dirt anthem “Give It A Try.” However, the cut “Save Me From Myself” really kickstarts the album, and the song with the melodic chorus is certain to be another #1 hit for Reckless Kelly.

“Guarded Heart” is a classic country love song and features angst-ridden vocals and superb instrumentation. Indeed, it proves to be the perfect intro for the album’s biggest surprise, the hard-rockin’ “She Likes Money, He Likes Love,” which will please concertgoers and radio program managers looking for an upbeat country hit.

The traditional track “Weatherbeated Soul” is another radio-ready cut, and the current single “Good Luck & True Love” is already well-known for its contemporary Texas country sound and sterling vocals. The stripped-down “I Never Liked St. Valentine” also deserves special mention because it offers half sung/half spoken interludes that surprisingly work.

However, the album’s best track by a mile is the amazing “I Stayed Up All Night.” From the contributions  of the band to the song’s intense chorus along with classic country lyrics, “I Stayed Up All Night” is a new country music classic that deserves all of the accolades it will no doubt receive. The album ends with the breezy “New Moon Over Nashville” and the hard-edge “Hit The Ground Runnin’” which is a song every red-blooded American male will gobble up faster than peach pie at the Georgia State Fair.

“Good Luck & True Love” is one of the finest examples ever of a fully conceptualized album in the Red Dirt genre. With excellent packaging, song sequence, lyrics, vocals and instrumentation, this album should bring Reckless Kelly good fortune in the form of more fans, a new-found respect, some major radio hits and probably more than a few phone numbers from females who are taken in by the charm of these country soothesayers.  CountryChart.com

Band: RECKLESS KELLY
Album: Good Luck & True Love
Label: No Big Deal Records

Reckless Kelly needs absolutely no introduction. After 15 years in the business the release of their latest album and 9^th overall, Good Luck & True Love, sees them return to the form that catapulted them to success. Known for their blending of rock and country they have always put together collections of very very strong songs and this album is more of the same from Reckless Kelly, but the difference this time around is that they are on their own label allowing them that much more freedom to expand on what they already do great. The grittiness you already love from them is present throughout this album whether they are focused on singing about the road on “Weatherbeaten Soul” of straight up heartbreak with cuts like “Give It A Try” or “I Never Liked St. Valentine.” Though always having a more old school based, rock approach to their albums, they have taken it one step further with this one stating that” if someone in the band can’t play it, it’s not going on the record” and because of that thought process our ears are treated to the most solid band efforts they have ever put out to date. This is a must have for any collection of good, solid music that leans a little bit on the edge and with the tracking of the album for the most part being live, you also get the feel and energy at times throughout the album that you are at a venue watching another rowdy, Reckless Kelly performance rather than just spinning their new album.

Texas Platters

BY DOUG FREEMAN, FRI., SEPT. 2, 2011

 

Reckless Kelly

Good Luck & True Love (No Big Deal)
Following up last year’s tribute to cult honky-tonker Pinto Bennett, Somewhere in Time, with its first set of new material since 2008′s Bullet Proof, Reckless Kelly’s seventh studio LP finds the local fivepiece sounding controlled and assured, shrugging off a bit of Red Dirt rock for a more measured affair. Willy Braun’s vocals provide enough edge to compensate for a more restrained showing from David Abeyta’s usually fierce guitar work, here driving on “She Likes Money, He Likes Love” and road anthem closer “Hit the Ground Runnin’.” Instead, RK sets the pace in the middle gears and strikes a more contemplative and mature note while still allowing melodies to emerge with more versatility, from opener “Give It a Try” and “Guarded Heart” to the weary “New Moon Over Nashville.” Cody Braun’s fiddle cuts heartache across “Weatherbeaten Soul” and “I Stayed Up All Night Again,” and tenderly talked Todd Snider co-write “I Never Like St. Valentine” provides mid-LP tongue-in-cheek. Reckless may be reined in, but still reigning.

Excuse the Mess . . . Rockin’ New RecklessKelly.com is in the works!