T. Warren's, New CD is, in my opinion his greatest work. I believe T has a calling and this latest CD strengthens that belief. He opens his soul & life to you in a way that will have you crying. If you have known the testing of our Lord you will relate to his sorrows and joys. He has been handed a tough road to hold, but his faith, family, heart and Southern pride makes him a man which has my utmost respect...Please order this CD and share with T, his "HIGH TIMES N' LOW LIVIN." You'll be glad you did!
The Southern American
INTRODUCING "HIGH TIMES N' LOW LIVIN"
A NEW CD FROM T WARREN
As the spouse of a musician, I sometimes find myself in the precarious position of being asked to critique a new project of my husband, T Warren. Some know T as a founding member of the WBTS-period band, "Border Ruffians". Others know him as one of the "Copperheads", a rough and tumble mix of rock and rockabilly music. Thanks to his new website, still others know him as a member of "Qwicherbichen" and "No Vacancy". This critique, or review, or introduction, isn't about any of these fine bands, but of a just-released solo project of T's, in which he wrote all the music, wrote lyrics to 18 of the CD's 19 cuts (thanks to Clint Lacy for doing such a masterful job with the lyrics to "Whiskey's Cheap"), T played all the instruments heard on the CD with the exception of the mandolin (thanks to Barbara Ellen for contributing her musical, as well as her beautiful vocal, talents), and he also did all the recording, mixing and engineering on the project. So you see, from start to finish, this is a T Warren project. His comment to me was, "Well, if they don't like it, I only have myself to blame." Final mix-down on the project was done by Jimby Ruston of California (thanks Ghost Dancer for coming through for us yet AGAIN).
The whole project is an "in your face" autobiography of T's life. From "Confederate American", a modern day Confederate's day-to-day trials and tribulations of wearing gray in the North, to "Callin on Jesus", a heartfelt plea from a "drunkard, a junkie, a rounder and more"..........this CD gets up close and personal. "Black Roses" exposes T's eyewitness account of the dirty truth of U.S. intervention in Central America. Its haunting combination of pan flute, mandolin and native language background vocals makes this cut my personal favorite. "Homeless Vet" and "Bring Em Back" are as close to anti-war protest music as I've heard in 30+ years. Blues cuts "Goin to Mississippi" and "Diddly Bar Blues" are filled with T's sweet slide guitar. The cut "Gutters of Chicago" chronicles T's rise and fall in the music scene in the windy city, and "Memphis Nightmare" combines a haunting Indian flute and lyrics which make you just want to hug the man and give him comfort. On the lighter side, there are the cuts "They Don't Know" and "Baby I Love Ya" with their legendary Sun Records sound, and "Cheap Talk", "Jr. Biscuit" and "Dawg's Day", with their 1950s sound and feel.
T, IS, a man of music. He's a man who has lived a very diverse life; he has reveled in successes, and suffered great losses; he has seen and done things most people just experience in their nightmares; he has lived through drug addiction and homelessness, and now he lays it all out for the world to hear in his new CD "High Times n' Low Livin". If ya thought ya knew T before, you'll have a whole better understanding of the MAN, through his music. If you don't know T at all, this CD will give you a crash course in T. Warren 101!
Pam Warren
To order, "High Times n' Low Livin"
Send check or money order for $15 to:
T Warren
425 Jonathon St
Bridgeport, IL 62457
They will be ship first class postage paid, the day the order is received.
Ladies & Gentlemen:
Since we have never met, or even communicated, please allow me this introduction. My name is Jeff Hunnicutt, I am a drummer, and I live in Robinson, Illinois. Somewhere back around 1972 or 73, a guy heard me playing the drums, and asked me to take about an hour long road trip to meet a fellow who was looking for a drummer for his band.
Turned out the "fellow" was T Warren. At that time, T was going to be the opening act for Mason Proffitt, on a national tour. After passing the audition, T asked me to go out at that time, however, I declined. I was more into heavy metal, and not the country rock type music that T was writing and performing.
In early 2006, a friend of mine, Dennis Dunlap, came up to my home and we began jamming on a regular basis. Dennis was a life-long friend, and one of the best guitar players, and the best slide player, I have ever heard. In a conversation with him, he kept referring to "T", and made reference to a band called Quicherbichen, that they had together in the late 90s. Dennis also made mention of an on-going Southern heritage band that T had formed called Border Ruffians, and that Dennis had done the guitar work on two CDs. I asked Dennis what T's last name was, and he said "Warren, his real name is Terry Warren". I thought to myself, "could this be the same Terry Warren from years ago?". I did a Google search and came upon the website "T Warren, the Man and the Music". In discovering that he one and the same, I emailed him that night. T answered me back shortly, and invited me to stop in and see him if I was in the Bridgeport area.
It just so happened that a couple of weeks later I was working a job about 6 miles from Bridgeport, so I decided to take him up on his invitation. Driving down the road that leads to his house, I was first met with the sight of 6 Confederate flags and a granite memorial sitting in the front lawn. T was outside mowing the grass. He shut the mower off, we shook hands, he offered me a glass of sweet tea, and we sat down and talked for two hours, about our last meeting all those years ago.
During our conversation I found out that the acquaintance who had introduced us, was T's late brother Johnny. I had no idea! Personally, I found it kind of funny that Johnny had never said that they were brothers, and even funnier was all the times I had wondered "what if I had taken that job as drummer for T?"....because he did very well, as the Mason Proffitt tour lead only to bigger and better tours with bands such as Head East and REO Speedwagon, just to mention a couple.
T told me he was about to finish up his latest CD, a solo project called "High Times n Low Livin", aka There's No More Southern Comfort. He told me when he had it a little more polished, he'd appreciate me giving it a listen. About a week later he said "if you want to hear the new one, come by", he didn't have to ask me twice. We went into his studio, sat down, T fired up the equipment, and we listened through the monitors.
It moved me. Everything about it....its sound, the words, the message. The sound is truly Southern (please note the CD has such a wide range of music on it, it is not like most traditional, commercial releases). When you listen to it, you'll hear influences (that reminds me) of Johnny Cash, Steve Earl, with a mix of Charlie Daniels thrown in. Then there's a Blues side where T's slide guitar reminds me of both the Mississippi Delta and the North Mississippi high country sound. There's some mandolin work on it that is a mix of foothills and valleys bluegrass and yet takes on a tone of mandolin parts from the jungles of Central America. It went from there to a song that took me to the days of Dell Shannon and Dion, then he pulled up a Southern gospel song. T is truly a Southern artist, a man that is proud of his Southern heritage, and his music reflects it. If you ever have the chance to see T on stage, then by all means, do so.
This is the first time I have ever been moved to write anyone what I thought about a CD. However, as a musician for more than 30 years, I have played everything from tiny clubs in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Nashville, (in bands like Big River, Rebel Rousers, Southern Comfort and Midnight Riders) to festivals all over the country, and one thing I know is music. I'm a born again Christian, pro-South, and would be amiss if I didn't take it upon myself to review T's new CD.
May God Bless you and your family,
Jeff Hunnicutt
