Derryl Dodd robbed

Full Circle

Since bouncing back from health problems four years ago, Deryl Dodd's albums have equivocated between his Texas roots and Nashville's commercial ambitions. His second release for Dualtone was recorded in Nashville with studio A-listers and though it mostly stays true to Dodd's honky tonk heart, it takes detours for a pop-inflected ballad and some flavor-of-the-month rowdy rock. The album opens well with the twangy two-step "Wearin' a Hole." Dodd sings full throated, ...

Stronger Proof

Deryl Dodd had a couple minor hits when he was laid low by a case of viral encephalitis that landed him in bed for six months. You'd think that with all that time to plan his comeback album he'd pick a better song to cover than Kenny Rogers's ode to 70's hedonism "Love or Something Like It." You'd think he'd realize that his forte is traditional country music and eschew the rocking "Let Me Be." You'd think he'd realize that a butt-smooch to the audience like "The Crowd" is no substitute for a ...

Live At Billy Bob's Texas

There's not a lot of new material on Deryl Dodd's first live album, but it's hard to blame the singer for recycling. For one thing, the Texas native was playing to what amounted to a home town crowd; for another, many of the repeats never got much attention during his three-album stint with Columbia and its "Americana" imprint, Lucky Dog - in part because a life-threatening illness a couple of years ago derailed a career that was just getting under way. With a stripped-down, 3-piece band, Dodd ...