When Charley Crockett announced plans to release ‘The Sagebrush Trilogy’ – a series of concept albums, all to be released within just 12 months – some were quick to cast doubt on the ambitious feat. Fast forward a year, and if he hasn’t already proved them wrong with widely acclaimed ‘Lonesome Drifter’ and Grammy-nominated ‘Dollar A Day’, the third and final instalment, ‘Age Of The Ram’, is here to shut down naysayers once and for all.
Structured as three intertwining acts, each album tells the tale of the fictional Billy McLane – a small-time cattle rustler who carves out a legacy as an outlaw. With themes of the open road, femme fatales and gunslingers, the saga is deeply rooted in traditional country tropes. That said, it is the newfound confidence of Crockett and the determination to push boundaries that make this final instalment truly stand out. While ‘Diamond Belle’, ‘Lonesome Dove’ and ‘Sweet Mother Texas’ capture a poignant, quiet beauty with their depiction of fate and isolation, ‘Crazy Woman Ridge’ and ‘Me & Shooter’ sit at the other end of the scale, embracing an unrestrained playfulness that hits just as hard.
Expressing this full spectrum of human emotion in his lyricism and ambitiously layering delicate instrumentals – particularly in tracks that are often less than two minutes long – is something few could navigate as effortlessly as Crockett. Just look at standouts like ‘Kentucky Too Long’, ‘Low Down Freedom’ and album closer ‘Cover My Trail’ – each has a self-assurance not previously seen from the songwriter. By leaning into it, he captures something that is both experiential, yet loyal to his country heroes; emotive, yet not shrouded in melancholy; and playful, but never devoid of deeper meaning.
With a hefty 20-song tracklist, it isn’t surprising that some of the songs feel like filler, and it’s hard to shake the feeling that additions like ‘Fastest Gun Alive’ and ‘I Shot Jesse James’ would have been axed if it were not determined to be a concept album. That being said, none feel particularly weak – they are simply just overshadowed by their counterparts, which embrace shimmering piano melodies, heightened theatricality, and push beyond what some would expect from a traditional country album.
Ultimately, one has to give Charley Crockett his flowers now that he has reached the end of his ‘Sagebrush’ saga. Three albums in one year is a tough feat for even the most ambitious artists, and the ability to intertwine them in a way that isn’t dragged out is certainly not something to turn your nose up at. Yet, aside from the surface-level storytelling, what is most poignant about ‘Age Of The Ram’ is that it doesn’t seem merely to be the end of a trilogy; it feels like the beginning of a courageous new chapter for the country star.
