Piper & The Hard Times
Good Company
Hard Times Records
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To say that 2024 was a great year for Piper &
The Hard Times would be a huge
understatement. The Nashville-based band won the
2024 International Blues Challenge in January
and released their debut album, Revelation,
in August. That album made many Top 20 lists
last year, including this reviewer's, and won
the 2025 IBC Best Independent Produced Album and
the 2025 Blues Music Award for Best Emerging
Artist Album.
Striking while the iron is hot, the band
recently released their follow-up, Good
Company (Hard Times Records), a rollicking
set of 12 originals. The band consists of Al
“Piper” Green (vocals), Steve “The Conductor”
Eagon (guitar), Dave “Sexy Boy” Colella (drums),
Amy “The Professor” Frederick (keys), and Parker
“Porkchop Funkstick” Hawkins (bass), with guest
artists Eddie Mayer (tenor sax), Charlie DiPuma
(sax), John “Hotfingers” Wallum (organ), and
background vocalists Lisa Oliver-Gray and Etta
Britt.
The title track opens the disc, and it's a
terrific rock n' roller driven by Green's robust
vocal and Eagon's soaring fretwork. “Now I'm
Lovin' You” is an upbeat soul number that adds
saxophones to the mix about a lady's man
changing his ways for the right woman.
The gritty “Tear It Down” ventures into funk
territory, while “Cowboy Gucci” is a sturdy
roadhouse rocker with Wallum guesting on organ,.
The moody “In The Meantime” takes a look at a
relationship fraying over different points of
view on a variety of topics.
“Turn The Tables” is a stripped-down piece, with
Green, backed only by Eagon's guitar,
addresses infidelity, growling out the lyrics
with gusto. “Runaround Man” picks up the pace
considerably, a fierce, rocking number that
grabs you by the collar, and “Cheatin's Gotta
End,” is a mid-tempo mix of rock, soul, and
blues.
“Keep It To Yourself” is a soulful tune with
rock-edged guitar work from Eagon,” and “Not
Your Fault” brings the horns back for some tasty
funk. “My Place” is a gripping blues rocker that
encourages the hard-pressed among us to step
back from the stress and strife and just listen
to the blues.
The closer is the powerful “Those Days,” which
looks back on the simpler times that most of us
grew up in. It makes listeners look back fondly
at what was then, lamenting how complicated and
senseless a lot of life is now.
In June of 2025 Al “Piper” Green was diagnosed
with cancer, and the band, as well as the blues
community, has rallied around the singer. One of
the highlights was a benefit concert in
Nashville in late July, as well as a GoFundMe
page set up to help offset Green's medical
expenses.
Hopefully, the treatments will bring Green back
to full strength (he reports regularly on his
progress at the band's Facebook page), and Piper
& The Hard Times will be on the road again soon.
In the meantime, fans can enjoy their
outstanding sophomore release, Good Company.
--- Graham Clarke