This came out in 2005 — or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Cowboy singer Tom Russell has always been one helluva storyteller. But even he’s never tried to tell a tale as big as this.
The remarkable Hotwalker is the Texas troubadour’s most inspired and varied work yet, a sprawling epic of 20th-century America and Americana as heard through the stories and music of Russell and his personal heroes. These 19 tracks interweave a plethora of musical styles — folk, country, bluegrass, gospel, Tex-Mex, West Coast jazz, even carny melodies — along with Russell’s own recollections and the spoken-word recordings of Charles Bukowski, Jack Kerouac, Harry Partch, Lenny Bruce and others. The result is somewhere between history and mythology, travelogue and soundscape, poetry and philosophy. Despite its massive canvas and multiple voices, it’s also Russell’s most personal album. Not to mention one helluva story.
