On their third album, “All Hat No Cattle,” Turn Turn Turn draws from a deep well of inspiration. The stories and musical atmosphere of this next-level offering were shaped by the trio’s travels across the country, their experiences touring and performing together, their love for American country and folk music, and their keen observations on the human condition.

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The trio consists of singer-songwriter guitarist Savannah Smith, singer-songwriter bassist Barb Brynstad, and singer-songwriter guitarist Adam Levy. They have been performing, touring, and writing together in close harmony since 2019. “We wanted the music to feel like a road trip across time and place in America,” says Brynstad about the new album.

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Together, they blend various musical styles, including American folk ballads, honky-tonk, norteño, Western gothic, bluegrass, and some influences from 1960s pop that originally brought them attention. The sounds evoke memories of Highway 61-era Bob Dylan, late 60s/70s Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, George Jones, The Louvins, Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, Scott Walker, Lee Hazlewood, and more distant roots.

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The trio’s interpretation of the rich history of American music is not mere imitation; rather, it offers something original, unique, and personal within the broader spectrum of Americana. While their first two albums leaned towards psychedelic-country rock, this one is distinctly more acoustic and rural, characterized by banjos, mandolins, pedal steel guitar, clean twangy guitars, a robust bass, and back-porch rhythms.

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As with all their recordings and live performances, the magic of the trio is in the blending of their three distinct voices into harmonious melodies. Levy plays all the stringed instruments except for pedal steel, bass, and dobro. “It’s a guitar fest,” he muses. The title of the album is tongue-in-cheek and self-referential, poking fun at weekend cowboys and rodeo-costumed city dwellers, as well as farmless ranch hands in their Stetsons. “None of us have horses or farms,” jokes Savannah Smith.

 

Smith has spent years performing country covers, singing everything from Dolly Parton to Shania Twain, and runs a vintage clothing store specializing in 20th-century Western styles. Levy studied country and soul music history in college and aspired to become a country guitarist upon graduation, immersing himself in the techniques of greats like James Burton, Albert Lee, Don Rich, and Roy Nichols, while playing pickup gigs with honky-tonk bands in VFW halls, American Legions, and rural bars. While Brynstad plays a wide variety of music for many bands, her love for country music developed more recently, and she has taken to the bass styles and harmonies with great ease, adding unique twists to the genres the band explores.

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The characters in the songs on “All Hat No Cattle” are relatable figures, such as the woman in Smith’s song “Magnolia Tree,” who struggles to break free from traditional familial expectations to pursue her own journey:

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“You got your white picket fence and your dog in the yard, 
and two babies in the backseat of your midsize car. 
Don’t think my luck’s running out or that I’m running out of time; 
I’ve just been driving on the shoulder, waiting for the road that’s mine.”  

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There are outlaws like the jealous lover in Brynstad’s feminist take on murder ballads, “Trouble”:

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“Somehow, I’m in trouble now. 
Well, it may not be a sin, but I found hell again. 
And now I’m in trouble; I’m in trouble now.”  

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Levy’s perspective features a repentant alcoholic who is “breaking up” with the liquor that has ruined his life in the 50s honky-tonk-tinged “Last Drink”:

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“You’ve got your memories, and I’ve got mine. 
After all these years, I should have seen the signs. 
You helped me forget, but I’m thinking clear again. 
When you leave, don’t let the door hit your rear end.”  

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Brynstad pays tribute to the lingering presence of past lovers and pets in “Hungry Ghosts”:

“We’re hungry ghosts singing our sad love songs. 
We go remote when the connection is too strong. 
You went out looking for what we had all along, 
And I’ll breathe a little lighter when you’re gone.”  

 

While the music and production may evoke a so-called “Golden Era” of country and folk, the lyrics touch on metamodern themes, as seen in “Solid State”:

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“This world is run on sugar, stretchy jeans, and A.I. lovers armed to the teeth, 
video cameras, opioid dreams. 
This world is run on desire, warming our hands on a fossil fuel fire, shredded semi-truck tires, endless wires.”  

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The opening track, “Antietam," features a bare a acapella introduction that tells a tragic tale from the Civil War:

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“I was a nurse in the Union Army of the Potomac, McClellan’s charge. 
Our great country was torn asunder. 
Two years of bloodshed, a death toll large. 
Indian summer of ‘62, there outside of Sharpsburg, the carnage came. 
All day guns thundered, and muskets crackled. 
Myriad torn bodies were brought our way.”  

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Even though this is a historical song, its themes feel resonant in this current moment of political and social tumult—almost prophetic.

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In “Cities,” a norteña-flavored song, the artists celebrate the beauty of the cultural and historical melting pot that is urban America, which faces suspicion and assault in these contested times. The lyrics highlight this theme:

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“Cities are skin, cities are doors, cities are colors and lives unmoored. 
Cities are sugar and cities are salt. Cities are trouble; it’s everyone’s fault. 
Cities are warfare, cities are peace; cities divide you and cities divide me. 
Cities are money and cities are stench — extended hand or clenched fist. 
Blame the cities for the change we allow. 
Rays, the warmth of other suns pull me now.”  

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The album was recorded over several years at Levy’s studio and represents a collaborative effort by the band, squeezed in between their busy touring schedules and other full-time jobs: Smith runs Seven Suns Vintage, a niche vintage clothing store in Eau Claire, Brynstad works as a marketing executive, and Levy is a high school history teacher.  

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Their live backing band, featuring drummer Josh Kaplan, pedal steel player Joe Savage, and keyboardist Peter J. Sands, adds a lively touch to this classic collection of tracks.  

“I wanted this record to feel fresh and not overproduced,” Levy explains about his production approach. “It’s very much au naturel and warts-and-all; mistakes were left in. It has a rustic feel, like many of my favorite records. Chris Furst did a magnificent job mixing the mess I made.”  

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The trio skillfully balances paying homage to the richness of American music history while also addressing themes that resonate deeply with the current moment. “Even when our music explores melancholic or heavier themes, we hope to bring joy and hope to listeners,” says Smith.