Grade: B
With a stage name like Hurray for the Riff Raff, one would think southern musician Alynda Lee Segarra would make songs filled with jaunty folk irreverence. On the contrary, HFTRR creates easy-moving ballads to the archetypes of southern sadness. HFTRR’s latest work, “Small Town Heroes,” is no different. This album is all blues, all the time. Segarra’s voice is a sultry twang that harkens back to early Dolly Parton and the darker color of Patsy Cline’s singing. “Small Town Heroes” covers the entire gambit of country and folk music’s subjects: heartbreak, drinking away sorrows and turning to God in times of need. Theses standards come together with numerous shout-outs to Louisiana, where Segarra calls home, despite being from the Bronx.
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