Ron Pope & the Nighthawks

Editors’ Notes After several solo releases of singer/songwriter fare, Georgia-born Ron Pope put together the Nighthawks to help him explore his love for Southern-fried rock, soul, and country-folk. On the group’s debut album, plucky mandolins dance around drunken slide guitars, while big horns punch through greasy boogie. The raspy-voiced singer ruminates on heartbreak, partying, and hard living on rambunctious groovers (“White River Junction”) and ragged ballads (“Hotel Room”). On Skynyrd-inspired jam “Take Me Home,” which boasts the album’s coolest riffs, Pope proves that you can’t take the South out of the boy.