Cassette Review // Larry Wish "Stardust & Hurt" (Bumpy)

https://larrywish.bandcamp.com/album/stardust-hurt

On "Stardust & Hurt", Larry Wish explores the sounds of country music through a voice that only Larry Wish can provide.  There are elements of synth, drum machines and other non-traditional country sounds coming out in these songs, but if this somehow helps music fans become more familiar with country songs they might not know then this cassette is doing its job, and that is something which I feel.

Country as a genre might be one of the aspects of music which I know the least about.  I know Willie Nelson, so it's nice to see "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" on here.  Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers are familiar but whenever I hear "Islands in the Stream" I always think of "Ghetto Superstar" and not country music.  Vince Gill is pretty much the exact type of country musician that I do not know a lot about and have perhaps only really heard of in name.

"Love Hurts" closes out the first side of this cassette and it is based on the country version, which is by Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris.  Parsons and Harris are also both musicians I only know by name, but there is a movie out there about Gram Parsons that stars Johnny Knoxville (I recently tried to watch it but couldn't get through it)  I also think of this song under its cover version by Nazareth, though that is largely due to the "Dazed and Confused" soundtrack as I've seen that movie way too many times.

I am familiar with George Jones, as he is somewhat of that outlaw country genre I listen to most, but I am somewhat surprised that there isn't a Johnny Cash song on here though a) Most country fans don't consider Johnny Cash to be true country and b) I'd love to hear an entire album of Johnny Cash songs covered by Larry Wish.   "Stardust & Hurt" is the type of cassette that would make country fans proud but also perhaps bring in new fans- those who don't like country- will still enjoy this and perhaps use it to look further into one of these artists.