Three songs into this collection you can assume it's going to focus on the old West. With titles about a gun fight "Long Brand, Wrong Night" and "Hoosegow" James McCandles puts forth this crusty collection with a voice to match. Dylanesque in lyric, he plays very adequate acoustic "Molly" based on the traditional "Banish Misfortune." "Queen of the old 4-J" is based on a poem by Dorman Jackson. "Wild Horse" would be my favorite, kind of awhiskey-voiced anthem to the "...open space of liberty." The songs are sometimes at the level of spoken word, but the guitar work carries rhythm and melody nicely. The Spanish "My Beautiful Red Roan" is delightful. "Long Ago We Laughed at Shadows" is a haunting guitar piece complete with suggestions of clinking ghosts of the past. Nicely done...

-J.W. McClure
Victory Magazine