Third Man Records has had “awkward affections” for Greg Ashley since he first poked his head out of the garage-pysch voodoo underground back in the heady days of the early 2000’s, so it’s a big pleasure to announce that Greg Ashley & The Western Playboys’ self-titled covers EP is out now.
Greg Ashley has tracked across the States’ metropolises, fringes and sticks for years now, releasing records under his own name and earlier on with black magic psych cult The Gris Gris.
Now, together with the Western Playboys, you can hear the dusty technicolor Rio Grande flowing in the veins of these new recordings. Many of these songs are Greg’s indomitable take on waltz, country swing and golden honky-tonk greats like Stonewall Jackson and Charlie Walker, but lest we forget the cover of Estrus records’ finest garage rock nihilists The Makers. This 12″ EP plays out from start to finish like a band in a washed out juke joint at a desert outpost from a Barry Gifford novel-strung out, sharp-witted and never dull.
Square it up and spin it now.
The EP is available for purchase here and now, as well as in Third Man storefronts and local record store favorites. Take a trip with your first listen to his version of Warren Zevon’s “Carmelita” HERE.
