Review: Ryan Culwell leans into his Texas Panhandle roots

Ryan Culwell is as Texan as an El Camino with a rusty tailgate, writes Scott Stroud of The Associated Press

Ryan Culwell, “Run Like a Bull" (Missing Piece Records)

Ryan Culwell is as Texan as an El Camino with a rusty tailgate. His Panhandle roots infuse everything he does.

That's as true as ever on Culwell's new album, “Run Like a Bull," the Americana singer-songwriter's third LP. It's more like his first album, “Flatlands" than his second “The Last American," though the latter had its virtues. Here Culwell builds on a growing body of great music in all the best ways — and the feel of home rises out of these songs like dust on a long, flat highway.

Sounding like you're from somewhere isn't as easy as it might seem. Doing it authentically is what sets the great ones apart. You can't hear Loretta Lynn or even Tyler Childers without being transported to the mountains of eastern Kentucky. Otis Redding's full-throated passion couldn't come from anywhere but Georgia.