Best of Kenny Seratt, Vol. I At a recent recording session Justin Trevino told me about a benefit show where he had recently performed. He said all the top “Texas” acts were there, but that Kenny Seratt “absolutely stole the show!” Justin said the people in the crowd wanted to know either “Who is this guy?” or “Where has this guy been?” Well, to answer these questions: Kenny Seratt is one of the best pure country singers around. Kenny has had a number of national chart records, including “Love And Honor”, “Goodbye Comes Hard For Me” and “Bitter End” to name a few. Kenny also is an accomplished writer and wrote or co-wrote several songs on this CD. To quote Merle Haggard, who produced some of Kenny’s early records, “Kenny sang like Lefty and me way before I did.” Kenny spends his time now either on his ranch in Montana or his home just outside of Dallas. When Kenny is in Texas he regularly performs and Emcee’s the Wylie Opry in Wylie, Texas. Listen to the 17 songs on this CD and you may well ask, “Who is this guy” or “Where has this guy been?” Hillside Records Dave Franer P.S. A special thanks to A.J. at Ernest Tubb Record Shop in Ft. Worth for insisting I put out this CD. A.J., “Goodbye Comes Hard For Me” and “I Never Go Around Mirrors” are just for you. HSCD1001 Kenny Seratt “The Best Of Kenny Seratt” $30 The reactivated Hillside label has been a blessing in this world where real country music is hard to find. Many bought and loved the “Hillside Country” cd from last year. Most of those were absolutely in awe of Kenny Seratt. Here was a man who sang like Merle Haggard and in his own right was every bit as good as the man. Merle himself has been quoted as saying “ Kenny sang like Lefty & me way before I did!”. The good news is we now have this superb cd. It came out right at the end of December in 2009 so technically it is a 2009 release but realistically a 2010 release and you would almost call the rest of 2010 off and proclaim this album of the year right now. A few years ago I had a cd by an indie guy called Rick Stancil. Now the cd was good but I could help remarking that one track, “Just a Damn Good Drinking Song” was as good as example of that fabulous honky tonk sub-set that I had ever heard, well lo & behold it was a Kenny Seratt song and the original is here! There is a mix of originals and covers. Some of the originals are by songwriters S Stone & J Cunningham. The latter could be the bloke who wrote the David Allan Coe classic “Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile”, as his & Stone’s “I Found Heaven in a Texas Honky Tonk” is a highlight in an album where nothing is less than a highlight. He does a wonderful job on the Tommy Collins song, recorded by Merle Haggard, “Goodbye Comes Hard to Me”. He has the voice and the songs. Why wasn’t he the biggest star in country music? As the late Benny Hill so often said , “How do you define the intangerine?”. So friends, you get 17 songs and so it is like getting 1 ½ of the best albums Merle Haggard or Lefty Frizzell ever recorded. He is that good. Just amazing. Justin Trevino, who is no slouch himself, reports that on a recent benefit show in Texas, where the absolute crème de la crème of Texas artists performed, Kenny Seratt absolutely stole the show. Said Justin, “People were asking who was he and where has he been!”. Well, you can find out. As far as I know he only ever had one lp (though a few singles of which only one made the Top 40) and now this cd. As good as it gets…maybe even better.