Holding true to the ideals of the classic country music of Bobby Bare, Hank Williams and more, Chuck Mead delivers the goods and then some with Free State Serenade. A founding member of BR549 (an underrated band in their own right), Mead dons the hat of storyteller throughout these 12 songs, indirectly penning songs about the murder of the Clutter family that in turn inspired Truman Capote’s book In Cold Blood. Free of the gloss and shine that dominates modern country music, Mead gets down and dirty with On A Slow Train Through Arkansas while taking a run through honky-tonk territory on Neosho Valley Sue and Ain’t Nothing Like The Love Of A Woman.