TEXAS PLATTERS REVIEW
The Last of the New York Sessions (Bloodchili)
Women, drink, and broken hearts: The Moonhangers like their country honest. And when Doug Strahan's delicate voice starts a-quiverin', it's lights out. His warning shot, "Steppin' Out," deals in regret, just like the rest of these New York Sessions. Ethan Shaw's baritone gets low-down and blues on "I've Been Down," the two frontmen coming together for spot-on Western swing of "3 A.M." Icing down the zydeco ("Crabs and Crawfish"), riffing ZZ Top ("Take Your Time"), and the "Pain, Pain" of Appalachia all result in jaw-in-you-beer musicianship. The local trio's alter ego, Chili Cold Blood, shows up in the funky "Take Your Time," but it's tradition that makes you want to cry: "Party of One," "Lifetime Commitment," and closer "Well to Do Man." This is sawdust-and-leather country worthy of a cold Lone Star on the Broken Spoke's dance rink. Get James White on the horn.
****
--Darcie Stevens, Austin Chronicle
TEXAS PLATTERS REVIEW OF DEBUT ALBUM
HOMEGROWN
Chili Cold Blood ladles Bloodchili Music – two Fritos packets' worth. The local trio's publishing company copyrights a dozen originals as its shit-kicking country alt.ego, the Moonhangers. Consider the group's Waylon Wednesdays at the Hole in the Wall a tip of Home Grown's hand. Ethan Shaw's pedal steel and Doug Strahan's guitars – Matt Puryear on drums – translates vocally, trading off track-by-track, into Strahan's more leavened tenor and Shaw's deeper Sun Records, and when they duet on "Homegrown," it ain't nuthin but good. Standouts "For Bein' in Love" ("... you sure don't ever call"), Willie-esque lament "Tumble Down Whiskey," and boot-scootin' instrumental "Bouncin' Buds" rustle up acoustics with the call of the steel, not a clunker in the bunch.
***
--Raoul Hernandez, Austin Chronicle
Pop Culture Press Review of Homegrown
Ethan Shaw and Doug Strahan are the men behind Chili Cold Blood and their honky-tonk-loving alter ego the Moonhangers. Home Grown showcases a dozen laidback, well-done Hanger originals. An inside photo shows Shaw and Strahan sitting around a patio in cowboy hats talking and drinking a 12-pack of High Life, and that’s pretty much the vibe the music inspires. Waylon and Willie as well as Doug Sahm and Joe Ely are definite touchstones for the Moonhangers on songs such as “You Don’t Love Me Anymore,†“Tumble Down Whiskey,†and the album-opening “Drivin’ Home.†The nifty instrumental “Bouncin’ Buds†and “For Bein’ in Love†showcase Shaw’s sweet steel playing, an album strongpoint.
--Andy Turner, Pop Culture Press
XL Moonhangers: "The alter ego of Chili Cold Blood, the Moonhangers have studied their Waylon Jennings records very carefully. Yes, your beer will eventually hold tears."
--Joe Gross, Austin Statesman
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