Unwinding Pain

Good News, Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters' sixth album for Stony Plain, follows the widely celebrated Just for Today. That set featured guest contributions from vocalist Diane Blue and Detroit guitarist Nicholas Tabarias. Both return here, along with special guest guitarist Zach Zunis, on loan from Janiva Magness' band. Six of these ten tunes were written or co-written by Earl. The guitarist has a thing for trains lately: Just for Today opened with the burner "The Big Train," while here, the kickoff is a total revisioning of "Mystery Train," entitled "I Met Her on That Train," an instrumental where Zunis, Tabarias, and Earl (in that order) improvise in a cutting contest on the choogling vamp.