Mike Breen

The Dallas Moore Band will unleash their new album, High on the Hog, this weekend with two shows, Friday and Saturday night, at Deuces Wild in Mason.

Following last year's acoustic-based, more introspective release, Untold Stories, High on the Hog finds Moore and Co. getting back to the kick-ass Country/Rock hybrid (which he calls "Outlaw Country") that they do so well.  The disc is the band's most fully realized yet.  Besides Moore's gritty, air-tight regular band, guests Bob Ramsey (keyboards) and Lisa Gray (backing vocals) add a wonderful new dynamic on songs like the instantly memorable "Lookin' out for You."  But the real stars here are the guys with their name on the CD spine.  The group does a great job of keeping the proceedings as diverse as possible, mixing rockers with cuts like the aptly-titled "Mr. Honky Tonk," the boardwalk boogie of "Now More than Ever" (which sounds like a lost Springsteen track) and the chilling, acoustic murder ballad "Perfume, Powder and Lead."

Those tiring of mainstream Country music's increasing tendencies towards Top 40 Pop stylings will not be disappointed in Moore's true take on the classic sound.