Rio Lindo

Album Review

Kurt Huget, co-lead singer, main songwriter, guitarist, and producer of Moonlight Rodeo, has a sense of musical tradition for his San Rafael, CA, band, which causes him to involve a number of local musicians from an earlier generation, including Bruce Barthol (bassist for Country Joe & the Fish), David Getz (drummer for Big Brother & the Holding Company), and most prominently, Robert Hunter (lyricist for the Grateful Dead), who earns co-writing credits on five of the 12 songs on Moonlight Rodeo's second album, Rio Lindo. The group's musical style is Bakersfield country-rock (think Merle Haggard and Buck Owens), and the playing is proficient. But it's the vocals that give the band identity, as Huget trades off with Lauralee Brown on lyrics that sound influenced by Hunter even when he isn't the credited wordsmith. That should be good news to Grateful Dead fans who enjoy Hunter's elliptical lines with their fractured aphorisms. They should think of this disc as a descendant of the Dead's "cowboy song" mini-sets and imagine it's Bob Weir singing instead of Huget, which shouldn't be so hard, since his timbre and phrasing are not dissimilar to Weir's. This album is a good example of the still-thriving style of Marin County country, and it's worth seeking out.