"Local singer/songwriter Stayton Bonner has enlisted local musicians including Marty Muse (who has played with Robert Earl Keen) and Erik Hokkanen (Gary P. Nunn, Jerry Jeff Walker) for an entertaining foray into Texas country on his debut, Border Radio. Bonner, who has played with various bands around town, was a finalist in last spring's Kerrville Songwriting Contest.
Border Radio presents a set that runs the gamut from story songs like "Ballad of the Kid" (based on a character in Cormac McCarthy's novel Blood Meridian) to light-hearted tunes like "Billy Ray (Mullet Man)" and "Tabasco."
Bonner's worn voice suits the songs well, and the backing musicians, including Muse, Hokkanen, Ponty Bone, Graham Cathy, and Eddie Collins, add life to the album with a wide range of instruments, frombanjo to accordion to fiddle. Collins' production work is equally impressive, giving the songs a full sound.
The album's standouts include "Still Love" and "Like They Used To," but the strongest song is certainly the title track, a ballad disguised as a hard-driving romp driven by Muse's steel guitar.
Border Radio is a good introduction to a promising young songwriter who, for a refreshing change, knows the roots of the music he is playing and is able to embrace country music's past while still sounding fresh and unique."
