Hacienda Brothers

Anyone with a dog-eared copy of the Flying Burrito Brothers' debut The Gilded Palace of Sin knows the concept of old-school R&B played by a traditional country-and-western band is nothing new. But Tucson's Hacienda Brothers don't have to wage an awareness campaign for country-rock like the Burritos did, leaving them free to explore "western soul" full-time with legendary Muscle Shoals songwriter/producer Dan Penn (the man who wrote the two R&B classics the Burritos covered on their debut). Penn not only gets to countrify some of his old catalogue — like The Box Tops' "Cry Like a Baby" and Percy Sledge's "It Tears Me Up" — but also gets to turn in a new classic with Hacienda singer Danny Gonzalez, the title track from the band's second album, where the downside of being loved too much, held too tight and being too right for each other are momentarily explored. It's to the Haciendas' credit that this traversing between genres is never jarring — you can hear The Intruders' "Cowboys to Girls" actually played by cowboys and it feels just as native as Chris Gaffney's accordion adding a zydeco bounce to the boogie-woogie of Charlie Rich. And that's what's right with right.