Youยve got to give Cory Morrow props for attempting to make more serious music since his drug-possession arrest in Austin a couple of years ago. Something about that event and the succeeding fallout seemed to give him the space to separate himself a bit from Pat Green, Robert Earl Keen, Jr. and the rest of the Ball Cap Nation. Not that those folks have abandoned Morrow, but he does seem to be making a conscious choice to up his game on his most recent records. (You have to admit, in the right hands, getting busted makes for some great country music lyrics.)
Of course, youยve got to give Morrowยs costars, the Eli Young Band, some credit, too. Despite the fact that there is no real Eli Young (thereยs an Eli and thereยs a Young, but no Eli Young), the band stays booked up all the time, whether at a honky-tonk like the Firehouse Saloon or bigger venues like tonightยs Sam Houston Race Park. Hard work counts for a lot, and these guys work hard ย Morrow has released nine albums in ten years, and the Eli Young Band has released three albums in four years.
This article appears in Aug 9-15, 2007.