McGuffey Lane “10” 2010 Lick Records, Distributed by E1 Entertainment

McGuffey Lane’s new CD “10” is the best thing they have recorded in a long time. Out of the ten songs that are on it, more than half of them would have fit nicely in either of their first two albums they made back in the early eighties. Although they have made several CD’s since they have reformed ten years ago, it wasn’t until original bass player Steve George Reis rejoined the band several years ago that the old McGuffey Lane sound really started to come back, both in concert and in recordings. With Reis on bass, that has allowed multi-talented Molly Pauken to play mandolin and other assorted string instruments. That has brought back that little touch of blue grass that has been a part of McGuffey Lane’s country rock sound.
The new CD has ten songs on it and amongst the highlights are “I Am Who I Am,” “It’s a Good Day,” and “Nobody But a Fool,” all penned and sung by lead guitarist John Schwab. The best cut on the album, from a sentimental point of view, is Reis’s great traveling tune “Song for the Road,” which the band has been doing in concert since back in the day but had never recorded before. Two songs that will be concert favorites off the disk are a duet between Schwab and Reis about refusing to grow old “I Ain’t Given’ in to Getting’ Old,” and “Bartender,” a vacation song which sounds like the sequel to “I’m in Jamaica,” which was on their 1984 album “Day by Day.”
McGuffey Lane will be traveling throughout Ohio and the Midwest in support of “10” through the fall. They headlined the Lorain International Festival this past June and hopefully will return to Northern Ohio soon. For more information on their shows visit www.mcguffeylane.com.
McGuffey Lane’s “10” is on Lick Records and distributed nationally by E1 Entertainment. You can pick it up at your favorite CD store, your local Wal Mart, as well as ordering it online at the band’s website.