Without knowing Rex Fowler and Neal Shulman at all, I’m going to tell you something I can say with a pretty good deal of certainty about them.  These two members of Aztec Two-Step are folk traditionalists.  Days of Horses is a very traditional, very good folk album with dual acoustic guitars, harmony vocals and excellent stories in each song.  They sing about family, the past, and love, just like you might expect from a fold duo.

“Better These Days” is a good bluesy tune whose message, which may very well be facetious, is better living through chemistry.  In this song, Aztec Two-Step sings about how it takes coffee and Valium to get them on their feet and how they spend so much time with the pharmacist that they have included him on the Christmas list.  This song a good humorous look at how it feels to get older.

There are two songs that remind me of Lyle Lovett, one more obviously than the other.  “I Don’t Believe in Jesus (but I sure do like his songs)” has a gospel feel that reminds me of Lyle Lovett’s Joshua Judges Ruth album.  The other song is “Tonight I Wish I Was in Texas.”  I can’t say for sure why this song brings Lyle Lovett to mind, but it does.  Maybe it just sounds to me like a song that could just as easily be performed by Lyle Lovett.

This is a very good album with simple, yet rich songs.  It’s easy to put yourself in these songs., especially “Down Home.”  This is a song about growing older, and being separated from your family members.  And even though you may not live in the place where you grew up, you’ll always carry a piece of home with you.  They say that home isn’t just a place, but a state of mind and a state of grace.  It’s just a beautiful song.  

And it’s not the only one.  Shulman and Fowler aren’t just songwriters, they are craftsmen and storytellers.  If you like traditional folk music, you should have this album.  You won’t be disappointed.
 

• Visit the Official website.
• Listen to samples and Purchase this CD online

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