With such a lot of great releases at the end of August, it seems that there’s an album that didn’t receive all the attention that it deserved. I’m talking about “The Lexington Tapes“, the only live album ever released by The Steel Woods.
Released on August 21th via Thirty Tigers, this record captures the original lineup of the band during a concert at Manchester Music Hall, Lexington, Kentucky, on February 16th 2017. At that time, the band was opening for Blackberry Smoke and hadn’t released yet any studio album. Jason “Rowdy” Cope and Wes Bayliss had founded the band a short time ago, and along with bassist Johnny Stanton and drummer Jay Tooke, they were starting building a fan base thanks to their performances.
Shortly afterwards, they would release their debut “Straw in the Wind“, and three others studio albums would follow, the impressive “Old News” in 2019 (reviewed here), “All Your Stones” in 2021 and “On Your Time” in 2023. Four gems that had a huge impact on the southern rock scene, and far beyond.
So, what we have with this live album is a unreleased record of the legendary band in its early years. Being able to listen to their fantastic performance that night is a true gift.
Recorded by Brad Gaines, mixed by Jay Tooke and mastered by Raelynn Janicke, it’s an album for the ages, that lets us appreciate their talent, the excellence of their songwriting and the fantastic quality of their music.
Most of the songs present on this live album were cowritten by Jason Cope and Wes Bayliss and were part of their debut album, “Straw in the Wind“. It includes “Axe“, “Better in the Fall” (cowritten by Brent Cobb and Barry Dean), the wonderful “Della Jane’s Heart“, “Whatever It Means To You“, “I’m gonna love you“, the splendid “Let The Rain Come Down” and their fantastic cover of Black Sabbath’s “Hole in the Sky“. You’ll also find a wonderful cover of the Allman Brothers’ “Whipping Post“, from their first studio album “The Allman Brothers Band“.
We aren’t able to see anymore the band on a stage, but their music is engraved in the memory of their fans, and this album is an evidence of their impressive talent. Somewhere in the sky, I’m sure that Jason “Rowdy” Cope must be proud. What he did with his band is now part of the history, but all these songs are here for the eternity. Rest in peace, Jason.
Nicolas Davelu
Country Music France 
I think I’m going to leave the group. Thank you I enjoyed it but you never reviewed my album or even aired one of my singles. But thank you. If you ever decide you can find Champagne Country by Rich Parr on any digital download sites. Or my new single, One Monkey DON’T Stop No Show by Rich Parr. Thank you again I enjoyed your page.
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