Reviews
March 2, 2020
Our review of the 6 song debut album from
"The County Line"
6 member band out of Tucson, Arizona..
Will have you singing "What about Texas"!.. Songs are heartfelt, honest, with great lyrics..like "Green eyes digging in my heart" and "I go for a drive... just to go for a drive"! .. Full of that Red Dirt feeling we all love! This is a "Must Check-Out" band!
Members Dan, Marisa, Mark, Nick, Mike, and Kyle keep the dirt road red with this one!
WRITTEN BY EDDIE SMITH, CEO
29 APRIL 2020
REVIEW OF THE COUNTY LINE'S NEW EP "LAST CALL"
First impressions... "Refreshing" and most certainly "Dance Worthy"...
We recently interviewed the six member band; The County Line from Tucson, Arizona and truth be told this one was one of my favorite interviews yet. Being comprised of former and current military and law enforcement members. This group of musicians show pride not just in their day to day work, but that pride flows right into their music and you see and hear it within their performance.
This album has six well written songs... As the title song "Last Call" begins to play, you hear the chatter of other patrons in a Country Bar and after a few moments the song begins. This song as well as the others all tell a story... Like any good songs that tell a story, you are hearing their memories and/or dreams, may it be good or bad. But the key thing to take notice here is that they tell a story and that folks is Country Music!
If you love to dance and you are a fan of the fiddle you are going to love what Marisa Black does through each song. Take a listen, you won't regret it.
During my time speaking with them... The strongest feeling or impression one might get of them is that they are not only just a band of musicians or even a band of friends... But you really get a feel for family when talking to them and seeing them interacted. They truly care about what they do and do seem to genuinely care about each other. This is the chemistry that in my opinion makes a great band of talent.
In short you need to get yourself a copy of this album!
Music: Driving Grooves
The County Line release debut EP
By Jeff Gardner
04/09/20
As far as country music goes, it's respectable when a band avoids the common path of overly lonesome tunes—even when their debut release is complicated by a pandemic. For those trapped inside seeking to hear an eclectic mix of pastoral and compelling country rock tracks, The County Line's debut EP Last Call is a great reprieve.
A labor of love discussing times both positive and rough, Last Call is a six-song release that shows Tucson locals blending energy and acoustics.
"We had previously recorded one of the songs at a local studio but weren't happy with how it came out," said guitarist and singer Mark Ewings. "We ended up buying the software, recording equipment and decided to produce, record and mix it all ourselves. Having the time to go back and re-record pieces until we were happy was invaluable. We also learned a whole new set of skills in the process."
For The County Line, Last Call is a long time coming; two of the tracks have been in the band's rotation since 2018, and multiple others were about "half done," while others were written and finished just this year. In many ways, Last Call is a compilation of the band's progress from cover songs to original material.
"We've been playing mostly cover songs in bars for a while. We're big music fans and love playing other people's songs but the next logical step as musicians was to create our own," Ewings said. "Admittedly, we took way too long to do it. We hope that people can relate to the emotions on these six songs. We've got party songs, love songs, cheating songs and sad songs."
While many of the tracks on Last Call contain that classic country guitar twang, the addition of bluegrass fiddle and brighter rock vocal melodies keep the songs from sounding too familiar. But even if the tracks do sound familiar, that shouldn't deter the country music fan, as so much of Last Call is lively, engaging balladry.
"Country music is all about great stories and great vocals. We hope we lived up to that on this album," Ewings said. "Realistically, we hope that this EP says to the audience that we are here. This is our start and we're motivated to keep moving forward and keep creating new music."
Despite jumping through various genres and playing styles in the greater country web, Last Call features a consistently vast sound thanks to its wide cast of performers. Alongside Ewings are guitarists Nick Lyman, Mike Miller and Dan Barry, as well as drummer Kyle Robinson and fiddle player Marisa Black. Every member of the band also takes turns singing, with Lyman leading.
The six performers in The County Line have more in common than similar music tastes; four of them work together in local law enforcement and have been playing together since 2011. Lead singer Lyman, who joined in 2016, is a military veteran and fiddle player Black, who joined in 2019, is part of a law enforcement family.
"We didn't plan it out that way but it just worked out that everyone has ties to service to our country and community. We all love playing music," Ewings said. "This band is a great way for all of us to escape our daily jobs and have a creative outlet that can connect with other people."