Flowers & Liquor

It’s no great surprise to learn that Hayes Carll is from Texas. Lean country-folk and roots-rock arrangements; idiosyncratic vocals once or twice verging on a yodel; wayward characters looking for a little peace and more often finding it in a bottle than a bouquet: Hayes’ songs are as much a product of Texas as those of Townes, Lucinda or Lyle.

Mind you, Hayes has been around a bit too. He attended college in Arkansas, where he picked up a bad enough case of the “Arkansas Blues” (an original, like most of the album’s cuts) to set him packing back to Texas.

Since returning, he’s holed up on Crystal Beach across from Galveston along with the misfits that punch and claw their way through the lippy, twin-slide rocker “Highway 87”, and killed a few Friday nights playing “Naked Checkers” with his girlfriend. Hayes has also visited Croatia, where he put together “It’s A Shame” and then got Lisa Morales to sing backup when he headed into Pedernales Studio.

— No Depression