R.I.D.E.

1	Ain't Wastin' Good Whiskey on You 2:58
2	What's Not to Love 2:43
3	It's a Heartache 3:27
4	When I Fall 3:06
5	I Didn't 3:23
6	The Bride 3:00
7	Sad City 3:32
8	Stand in the Middle of Texas 3:49
9	Señorita 3:07
10	Hillbilly Rich 3:04
11	Once a Cowboy 3:48
12	Cry Cry Cry 2:42
13	I Can Live With That 4:18
14	Maryann's Song 3:38

Barnes & Noble

The third album from Trick Pony proves the hardy trio still live for honky-tonk and hard country. They come out of the box kickin' with the rowdy, rockin' "Ain't Wastin' Good Whiskey on You," bolstered by Tracy Byrd, Joe Diffie, and Darryl Worley on the sing-along chorus. The rockabilly-fueled "Cry, Cry, Cry" is a thumping, bumping dance hall barnburner, replete with slapping bass and a snarling electric guitar behind Keith Burns's fierce vocal. The threesome dip a toe into the pop realm on the sensitive ballad for piano and pedal steel, "When I Fall," and they roll out a stomping rendition of the old warhorse "It's a Heartache," which they claim as their own thanks to Heidi Newfield's gritty, sandpapery voice, the ideal vehicle to put it across amid jangling guitars and a winsome harmonica line. But those are digressions; the heart and soul of the matter is in the tough stuff. Newfield offers an urgent reading of a soaring cautionary tale, "The Bride," and delivers a bluesy declamation on the richly textured mid-tempo rocker "Once a Cowboy." Meanwhile, the whole band get ragged but right on the lean, mean, hip-hop-flavored "Senorita." Kris Kristofferson sits in to recite a moving farewell note Newfield wrote to her recently deceased mother in "Maryann's Song," after which Newfield enters singing heart-rending lyrics -- customized for the song's second half by Todd Woolsey -- in a performance with decided gospel overtones, made doubly affecting by stark dobro-guitar accompaniment. Hold on tight: This is quite a R.I.D.E. David McGee

All Music Guide

Trick Pony was doing rough and rowdy long before Gretchen Wilson came along and flew the flag for redneck women, but their third album (and first for Curb), R.I.D.E., proves that the trio sounds rougher and rowdier than Wilson. Trick Pony are a quintessential Southern bar band, nominally country but just as comfortable with rock & roll and blues. They'll also throw a little pop in the mix -- as in "When I Fall," a bid for a crossover hit -- but they're better off when they relax and kick out music that's the ideal soundtrack for a weekend. Heidi Newfield has a sexy, throaty growl that adds grit even to the slower songs and she's complimented by Keith Burns' clean swagger, and the combination of two lead vocalists helps give R.I.D.E. a welcome sense of variety. Sometimes, the trio can get a little silly and sometimes their material leans a little bit too close to the generic, but for the most part this is a lean, mean redneck country-rock album, one that promises and delivers a damn good time. Stephen Thomas Erlewine