Promises Promises

Hank Wangford, pioneer and Godfather of British alternative country music and Americana, joins forces with Noel Dashwood, Britain's premier dobro player for a unique duo album of original songs. Dobro is a guitar played horizontally with a slide bar in the Hawaiian style, a foretaste of the classic country sound of pedal steel and lap steel guitar.

They sing spine tingling harmonies together on Hank's songs and the one non-original "Image of Me," Conway Twitty's first country hit which Hank learned from his mentor and inspiration the late Gram Parsons. With Noel's lyrical dobro, they celebrate the much ignored influence of Hawaiian music on American popular music and most especially country. Noel tips his hat to the dobro of Pete Kirby - Bashful Brother Oswald of Roy Acuff's seminal Smoky Mountain Boys - in much of his playing.

Two sides to this album - first Toetappers is uptempo with songs about Oiland the current fossil fuel crisis, "Jump In A River" about lockdowns, spiritual and societal, and "Simple Pleasures," something we all crave. The second side Heartbreakers is sadder ballads about cheating, lies, lost love, jilted wedding, drinking, and broken "Promises Promises." And "Something In The Air" asks is there a god? The whole album is a heartfelt tribute to the classic roots of Country that Hank was pulled into by his friend Gram.