Cedar County Cobras — “Sinners & Saints” — Overton Music
The Cedar County Cobras are Tom Spielbauer and April Dirks (plus a handful of talented friends on this fine album), who play roots and blues music with guitars, foot drums, upright bass — and joyous abandon.
The Iowa-based duo (Cedar County, of course) relishes in playing music from deep into the last century, and creating their own new music with its own roots deeply embedded in that tradition.
For this session, they’ve created six new songs, arranged three traditional ones, and added one by their close friend, the late Lonnie Bowden. Their music gets an additional kick from Bryan Vanderpool on drums/percussion and upright bass; Dave Moore on harmonica; Heath Alan on saxophone and backing vocals; Tanner Taylor on Hammond B-3 and piano; and Monica Faye and Krista Guillaume on harmony vocals. The Cobras produced.
Their styles blend old-time blues, gospel and traditional songs. Spielbauer plays Delta blues style guitar, slide and foot drum. Dirks is a mandolin player whose conversion to upright “doghouse” bass adds an exuberant foot-stomping rhythm to their music.
They light everything up on the original opening track, “Matches & Gasoline,” which spontaneously combusts to its fiery guitar rhythms and thumping bass, with Spielbauer’s gritty vocal tale of a volatile relationship. “Motorbike” rides its own open-road groove, featuring Moore’s relentless harp.
“Bessie Smith’s Last Ride” is a magnificent opus that revisits the death of blues legend Bessie Smith, pairing its historical tragedy with contemporary injustice. The Cobras rework the traditional “St. James Infirmary” without losing any of its original passion.
Their joyous interpretation of the traditional gospel of “Get Right Church” is a hand-clapping, foot-stomping pleasure, with the B3 rolling along. “Mind My Own Business” is a gentler blues offering sage advice: “If it ain’t broke I ain’t tryin’ to fix it., while “Guitar Zero” offers witty wordplay at a furious pace.
On “Ruby Red” the Cobras pay tribute to its creator: “We put this song on the album to honor our longtime friend Lonnie Bowden who suddenly passed away of cancer in 2023. Lonnie was an amazing old time banjo player with that old Appalachian style crooning voice and a great songwriter. He would bring a whole room to silence when he belted out the song Ruby Red, which was written about his experience coming home from the Vietnam War and looking for his place in the world. It is written by a veteran with true emotion of longing and loss. Mostly arranged by Lonnie prior to his passing, April finished the lyrics to bring the song
together in the way the Cobras play it today. Before his death, Lonnie gave April his blessing to finish the song “Ruby Red”
and get it on vinyl for the world to hear. It has a different feel than the other songs on the album because it is in an oldtime
bluegrass style to honor the banjo player who wrote the song.”
The elegant instrumental “Springtime” is an eloquent interlude that allows the Cobras’ music to stretch out and breathe. The closer is the Cobras’ righteous rendering of “Precious Lord,” the Thomas A. Dorsey gospel standard.
The Cedar County Cobras have turned their love of great old American music into a contemporary gem on the finely crafted and smartly played “Sinners & Saints.” Their enthusiasm — and their music — is a joy to share.
Interesting historical note: The Thomas A. Dorsey who wrote “Precious Lord,” and many, many other gospel songs, originally gained notoriety as Georgia Tom in his slightly salacious Hokum music partnership with Tampa Red, including that racy double-entendre-laced ditty, “It’s Tight Like That,” which was a million-seller in 1928. Dorsey’s first composition in 1920 was “If You Don’t Believe I’m Leaving, You Can Count the Days I’m Gone, and he was one of the first musicians to copyright blues songs.
Interesting historical note 2: In 1931, Cedar County was the battleground for the Iowa Cow War, where there were multiple violent disputes over the testing of cattle for bovine tuberculosis.
Here’s “Matches & Gasoline” from the album:
Tracklist and credits:
- Matches & Gasoline 3:18
- Motorbike 3:35
- Bessie Smith’s Last Ride 3:57
- St. James Infirmary 4:20
- Get Right Church 2:58
- Mind My Own Business 3:45
- Guitar Zero 2:54
- Ruby Red 3:14
- Springtime 3:40
- Precious Lord 2:45
Tom Spielbauer
Songwriter (tracks 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9)
Arrangement (tracks *4, *5, **10)
*Traditional Music
“Precious Lord” originally recorded by Thomas A. Dorsey, 1932
Vocals (all tracks)
Guitar – acoustic, electric, lap steel, baritone (all tracks)
Banjo (track 3)
Foot Drum (tracks 8, 9)
April Dirks
Songwriter (tracks 1, 3)
Arrangement/Lyrics (track ***8)
***”Ruby Red” originally written by our close friend Lonnie Bowden
Upright Bass (tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10)
Mandolin (tracks 1, 4, 7, 8, 9)
Vocals (tracks 1, 3, 5, 8)
Hand Drums with Seth Bihun (track 3)
• Bryan Vanderpool – recording studio wizard & musician
Drums/Percussion (all tracks except 8, 9)
Upright Bass (tracks 4, 8)
• Dave Moore – Harmonica (track 2)
• Heath Alan – Saxophone (tracks 3, 4, 6) & backing vocal (track 3)
• Tanner Taylor – Hammond B-3 (tracks 4, 5, 10) & Piano (tracks 4, 5)
• Monica Faye – Harmony Vocals (tracks 5, 10)
• Krista Guillaume – Harmony Vocals (tracks 5, 10)