John Surge and The Haymakers - Maybe You Don't Know Me EP

To quote John Surge, “These five songs represent a real cross-section of the music we make”. John is referencing a new EP aptly titled, ‘Maybe You Don’t Know Me’. The ‘Almost Time’ album from last year was well received, but Surge still had a host of material that wasn’t quite right for that record but worked well in his live set. A live set that had gotten John noticed on the LA country scene in the first place. Surge re-connected with highly regarded Texas producer Tommy Detamore  {Doug Sahm, Jim Lauderdale, Sunny Sweeney, Jesse Daniel} and reenlisted many of the ‘Almost Time’ crew including his right-hand Haymaker guitarist Randy Volin, plus Brennen Leigh on harmony vocals, Brad Fordham (Dave Alvin/Hayes Carll) on bass, Tom Lewis (Junior Brown/Raul Malo) on drums and Floyd Domino (Asleep at the Wheel, Merle Haggard) on keyboards.

The resulting EP is an eclectic mix of styles that feel right and flow nicely. Opener ‘Maybe You Don’t Know’ features lashings of honky tonk piano while still leaving plenty of room for Detamore’s pedal steel and Volin’s guitar to trade blows. ’Marisol’ takes us to the Tex-Mex border as Randy Volin adds another in a string of perfectly judged guitar contributions. That Mavericks feel further enhanced by Mavericks accordion player Michael Guerra guesting. ‘Barstool’ is up next, a catchy tune with amusing lyrics - it doesn’t get much more country than this. “You fell off your barstool, and I fell in love with you”, sings Surge while Jess Meador’s fiddle adds colour.

Things take a surprising turn with a cover of ‘Gold’ a 70s hit for John Stewart that featured an unmistakable backing vocal from Stevie Nicks. 'Gold' is a great song and a big hit in many territories, but less successful here in the UK, where it is not so well known. The original is an essential listen for fans of Nicks and/or Fleetwood Mac, which, sadly, Stewart would later seemingly disown, claiming he recorded it at the insistence of his record company. Surge does the song justice with his countryfied spin on the original via clever use of fiddle and pedal steel to replicate the iconic guitar parts. Brennen Leigh does a terrific job with the vocal harmonies on an inspired choice of cover tune. The EP concludes with another winner as the 80s country-inspired ‘Stand My Ground’ deals with a relationship at breaking point in sunny California. “We’re getting really good at playing our roles. An academy award as the script unfolds. But this ain’t Hollywood or Disneyland. I guess we never found our promised land". Once again, fiddle and pedal steel play their roles, but guitarist Randy Volin stretching out a little on the fade is especially welcome.

I enjoyed ‘Almost Time’, but I get the feeling that with ‘Maybe You Don’t Know Me’ we’ve not only found the real John Surge, but he’s possibly found himself as a recording artist.

https://johnsurge.com/home

‘Maybe You Don’t Know Me’ is released on September 20th via Blackbird Record Label a Los Angeles-based label founded in 2017 by Recording Artist Manda Mosher and Record Label Executive and Music Supervisor, Eric Craig.