Making Hey (Haystack, 2001)

In the case of The Heymakers, they don't overreach with their name. Their moniker is, in fact, appropriate as they easily conquer a variety of styles from Texas honky tonk shuffles to country rock (highlighted by "Hickory Wind") and Tex-Mex songs (the light feeling, but bouncy "Olvido" and "Reyna Es El Rey").

The Austin-area based band recorded 17 songs. Now for most acts, that would be considered overkill, but these guys have enough musical chops to keep it going. The instrumentation is superb from the get go with Larry Tracy on pedal steel and Curtis Thomas on mandolin. Producer Tim Kerr keeps things pared down musically with timekeeper John Dorn, who is no longer in the group, maintaining a good pace. In fact, the two-year-old group has changed considerably with Rick Broussard now on guitar. Lead singers Carl Cooley and Dennis Ku complement each other well with Robert Earl Keen a vocal reference point.

It would have been easy to knock these guys based on their name alone, but they packed a mighty wallop.