Red Steagall Albums (19)
'The Wind the Wire and the Rail'
Release Date 1/1/2005
Tracks 10
Label Wildcatter
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What The Critics Say
When most Americans think of the west, they think of Wyoming, or Colorado, or California. The Wagon Tracks of Red Steagall's westward journey, however, begin in Ireland, where thousands left in search of a dream or simply a bite to eat. Many never stopped moving ("Through the Cumberland Gap") while others settled until conflicts, like the invasion of the south by carpetbaggers following the Civil War, pushed them onward ("Gone to Texas"). While Steagall's musical vision of the west doesn't abandon the romance of chasing the setting sun, he does remember the displacement of the Native American and the genocide of the buffalo ("The Last Buffalo"). After a long stop in Texas ("Out on the Texas Plains" and "Texas Bein' Texas"), Wagon Tracks heads for Nebraska ("My Nebraska Homestead") and up the Oregon Trail ("We Danced on the Oregon Trail"). Steagall & the Boys in the Bunkhouse rely on fiddles, acoustic guitars, and light percussion to deliver spare, tasteful arrangements. They reach the end of their 6,000 mile trek with "My America," a nice variation on "This Land Is Your Land." Wagon Tracks offers an in-depth portrait of westward expansion and will be warmly embraced by lovers of the open plains. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., All Music Guide
'Love of the West'
Release Date 8/24/1999
Tracks 10
Label Warner Bros.
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What The Critics Say
At the end of the '90s -- at the end of the 20th century, actually -- Red Steagall stands as an individual. There really isn't anyone like him. Nobody else is keeping the sound of traditional western music or cowboy songs alive, and nobody plays it straight like Red. That would be noteworthy even if he were simply a straight revivalist, but he's much more than that; along with some select collaborators, he keeps the tradition alive by adding new songs and ideas to it. That much is evident by Love of the West, a brief, ten-song salute to cowboy romance. It's a warm, endearing album, filled with warmth and humor. Most impressively, the new songs -- and it's all new songs and stories, most of them at least co-written by Steagall -- sound like campfire classics, not newly written tunes. It is true that if you view Steagall as a fuddy-duddy, this won't change your mind, but anyone who's enjoyed his previous album will certainly be charmed yet again by Love of the West. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'Dear Mama, I'm a Cowboy'
Release Date 7/15/1997
Tracks 10
Label Warner Bros.
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'Faith and Vaules'
Release Date 8/8/1995
Tracks 11
Label Warner Bros.
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'Truck Driving Man'
Release Date 1/1/1995
Tracks 8
Label Universal Special Products
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'Born to This Land'
Release Date 7/13/1993
Tracks 11
Label Warner/Western
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What The Critics Say
Superb album of contemporary cowboy songs, mostly originals, by a man best known for having discovered Reba McEntire. Red Steagall looks and lives the part of a Western sage, and his voice has a depth that gives the illusion that he was actually there for a lot of the stories he sings about (he also tells a story or two, with a modern sensibility to some old western themes). Born to This Land, produced by Steve Gibson is lean and unobtrusive, is filled with gorgeous acoustic guitar and mandolin sounds, and the entire record is a worthy successor to the best of Marty Robbins, Tex Ritter, or the Sons of the Pioneers. The booklet includes an explanation of certain 19th and early-20th century Western and cowboy jargon. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
