HOKE, RUSSELL - A Voice From the Lonesome Playground: An Anthology

150 hand-numbered copies in over-sized album. 16-page lyrics booklet. -¢‚Ǩ-ìIt was in the summer of 2011 that I first stumbled across a small stash of Russell Hoke albums while combing through the tastefully stocked bins of Chicagos Dusty Groove Records, which I later learned was one of the very few places in the world to actually carry these. Tucked in their small -¢‚Ǩ-ìFolk & Country-¢‚Ǩ¬ù section sat these intriguing looking hand-assembled, hand-scrawled record jackets with titles like Haunted Brain and If I Had Been the Universe that looked positively out of place amongst the more recognizable selections within that traditional-mind- ed genre. With no knowledge of what any of these would sound like, but lured by the cheap sticker price and curious song titles, I ended up purchasing a copy of Hokes He Would Have Been A Fine Young Man. When I arrived back home and put the needle to the record for the first time, I was downright mesmerized by what I heard. The album was a haunting