From the very start of his career, Ags Connolly has made no secret of his admiration for the late James Hand. Connolly’s debut album (released in 2014) featured a song he’d written called I Saw James Hand, a song which has remained in his set list to this day, always introduced with the tale of how Ags played the song at a gig in Nashville, expecting to have Hand in the audience only to find that his hero was running late and missed the song.
Hand died, aged 67, in 2020. By then he and Connolly had become acquainted, to the extent that they had planned to write some songs together. Alas, that never transpired. Instead, we have this lovingly crafted tribute to Hand, a collection of 11 songs garnered from Hand’s six albums and recorded by Connolly along with musicians who played with Hand. A twelfth song, Corner Of The Street, was written by Connolly in expectation of taking it to Hand for their proposed collaboration.
So, who exactly was James Hand? A Texan, he played music from an early age becoming a local star on the honky tonk circuit while tackling various jobs including being a horse trainer and a truck driver. His natural reticence and humility kind of held him back with one writer saying of him, “James is even uncomfortable selling you a CD after a show. He thinks that if you give him $15, he should come over and mow your lawn.” He didn’t record an album until he was in his forties and his unrequited allegiance to the grand tradition of old fashioned country music won him few fans outside of Texas. He did garner some famous fans, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson included but, to the end, he remained, as one article described him, a hidden Texas Honky Tonk treasure. It’s of note that, prior to Connolly’s homage, Charlie Crockett, another huge admirer of the man, recorded an album of Hand’s songs, Lil’ G.L. Presents: 10 For Slim – Charley Crockett Sings James Hand (sharing three songs with Connolly’s album).
It has to be said that Connolly takes to Hand like a duck takes to water. The songs are tailor made for a singer who revels in what has come to be called Ameripolitan, a movement to reclaim traditional country from the tosh which populates the country charts these days. From the opening bars of In the Corner, At The Table, By The Jukebox we’re in a bar room heaven, the ghost of Hank Williams sitting side by side with Hand as pedal steel and fiddle adorn the song. Baby, Baby Don’t Tell Me That sashays with the verve of the early Sun Records forays into country music while Shadows Where The Magic Was finds Connolly using the Johnny Cash chika boom rhythm on a song which displays Hand’s writing at its best on a song which has an almost biblical fear built within it as he revisits his past. Topping that is Connolly’s delivery of Lesson In Depression, here given a slight border sway with its luxurious pedal steel.
The album closes with Connolly’s sole write here, Corner Of My Street, originally penned as a possible collaboration with Hand. That was not to be but this hangdog country lament serves as a fitting close to the legend of Hand and to Connolly’s affection for him.
