(Self-released, digital, vinyl)
For 20 years, the country music jam Honky Tonk Tuesday at Radio Bean has been a bona fide Burlington institution. Founder Brett Hughes oversaw numerous iterations of the weekly session’s house band in his decade-long tenure, leading a rotating cast of emergent and established players through both classic and original tunes. In 2015, Hughes handed the reins to Burlington songwriter Eric George. With his group Ponyhustle, George and company are keeping the Bean’s two-step tradition alive.
A seasoned sound engineer and prolific writer, George made his bones well before inheriting the residency. He’s released a whopping 14 albums in the past decade, and when George isn’t tinkering behind the boards, he can often be found busking on Burlington’s most trafficked promenades. A modern-day troubadour whose songwriting proclivities tend toward the poetic, George pens dapper folk ditties that bask in the analog romance of a bygone era.
Ponyhustle’s self-titled debut holds true to that affect while driving the volume dial up to 10 and pushing the tempo to that of an iron horse. OK, maybe it’s not quite locomotive fast, but the album’s pristine performances make plain that, despite their name, Ponyhustle are no pack of colts. This is an all-star band of honky-tonkers that can play to tradition and blaze new trails for modern roots music.
Ponyhustle’s adoration for their folky forebears is evident in their arrangement of Dick Blakeslee’s “Passing Through,” an infamous, widely reprised ballad with political undertones. Ponyhustle’s rendition convinces crowds to chuck the picket sign and take up a dance partner. While it doesn’t exceed the swagger that Leonard Cohen brought to his version of the song, George’s strapping vocal delivery is a welcome departure from Pete Seeger’s elegiac falsetto. Better still, Ponyhustle’s modern arrangement artfully plays against expectation. Mirroring the subtle tension that’s baked into the lyrics, the band deftly suspends time in the choruses. Bearing no resemblance to Cisco Houston’s patchy performance, Ponyhustle’s “Passing Through” is a dynamic, swinging tune that stands in a league of its own.
Track for track, the album delivers the boot-stomping spirit of Ponyhustle’s live act directly to your stereo. In keeping with Honky Tonk Tuesday’s anything-goes atmosphere, George swaps lead duties with bandmate, singer and songwriter John Abair.
Typical to the country-western canon, both songsmiths have a knack for writing narrative lyrics about working-class life, but their sensibilities as performers diverge in more ways than one. Penning three of the album’s six originals, Abair is more brooding than George, with a cadence reminiscent of John Prine, especially on the lovelorn “Dale and Marie.” Vocally, Abair’s bassy, nasal-tinged twang subtly evokes Townes Van Zandt’s understated sound, but when the band gets cooking, his voice gets buried in the mix. On “Five Miles From Home,” George captures the down-and-out essence of highway songs past, upending the bankrupt feeling with a jaunty, uplifting chorus.
Recorded live and mixed by George, the album has flourishes that deviate from what’s possible onstage. For instance, the lo-fi intro on “Love Makes It Hard” mimics the crackle and pop of an old phonograph record. It’s an apropos opening, a little like having a rose-colored daydream before waking up to love’s tender underbelly rolling through.
Get the album on vinyl at Ponyhustle’s album release party on Saturday, February 22, at ArtsRiot in Burlington. Otherwise, it’s available on major streaming services.
This article appears in Feb 19-25, 2025.
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