Texas Platters

Rick Broussard's Two Hoots & a Holler

The phrase "come and take it" is experiencing a rebirth, so it's no surprise that Rick Broussard co-opted it as title for the only instrumental on his new CD. It's a muscle-bound rocker, one of many shades of roots rock he and his band, Two Hoots & a Holler, built a career on in Austin over the years, but never so unabashedly recorded. Broussard's never been afraid to walk the swamps ("Go Ahead and Cry"), and here he hits the country notes hard, too ("Every Bit as Proud," "Me Not Calling"), going head-to-head on guitar with bandmate Matt Brooks and waxing Pogues-like over Dylan's "Times They Are a Changin'." Yet Broussard finds his muse in the Texas Tornado himself, rendering the anthemic "I Cried and Cried the Day Doug Sahm Died" an instant classic tearjerker. If Come and Take It isn't a "career" album, Broussard's still got lots of tricks up his sleeve and plenty of fire and brimstone in his tank. (CD release: Continental Club, Friday, Nov. 18, with Patricia Vonne)