XIT - Ten in Texas (Icehouse, 2005)
Various Artists
Reviewed by Eli Messinger
Ruthie Foster opens with a mouth-watering take of Clark's "Texas Cookin'," and Gary P. Nunn adds the brew with a cover of Rod Steagall's "Lone Star Beer and Bob Wills Music. Texas' musical traditions are further lauded in an old-timey treatment of Billy Joe Shaver's "Honky Tonk Heroes," and Aaron Watson's fiddle-and-steel arrangement of Buddy Holly's "True Love Ways" installs a twangy Lubbock heart in this 1950s orchestral pop classic.
The album's house band provides consistency across most of the disc, with Lloyd Maines' steel, Ray Benson's guitar and Jason Roberts' fiddle serving up the leads. This is more than a collection of tracks waxed over the time and space of multiple studios - it's a celebration of Texas music.
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