Search - Vidalias :: Melodyland

The Vidalias' debut album, "Melodyland," is accurately described as country rock, but it emphasizes the lonesome-blue style of Gram Parsons rather than the boogie party style of Hank Williams Jr. Charles Walston wrote the album's 11 slices of old-fashioned honky tonk, and the quintet (containing former members of such Atlanta rock bands as the Georgia Satellites, the Tall Boys, the Chant, and the Latin Teens) displays how closely it has listened to the Byrds' "Sweetheart of the Rodeo." The result is an affectionate approximation of Parsons's inspired but short-lived mix of hillbilly verities and hippie spontaneity in the late '60s and early '70s. Walston is a clever songwriter who knows his way around the honky-tonk formulas of broken hearts, unfaithful women and deadend jobs, but his variations on familiar themes never seem quite funny enough nor quite poignant enough. It doesn't help matters that he's an underwhelming singer with a narrow range and a dull, nasal tone. Guitarist Page Waldrop and pedal steel guitarist Henry Bruns dress up the songs with some tasty licks, but the rhythm section just shambles along without much spark, not even on the two rockabilly numbers. --Geoffrey Himes