Memphis Kee (album release), Ellis Bullard, Zach Moulton [inside]

Memphis Kee can unload a low-down gritty Southern rock jam, but as the local quintet’s new sophomore album Dark Skies emphasizes, they’re at their most powerful stripping back into sincere ballads behind leader Kee’s roughened deep vocals that conjure Robert Earl Keen filtered through Waylon Jennings. Harsh realities and small wonders collide with songs like the Uvalde-inspired “Being a Kid,” balanced against the easy melody of “Hummingbird” and the Jamie Lin Wilson duet “Bewitched.” The release gets support from two country scene stalwarts: suave baritone honky-tonker Ellis Bullard and former Silverada pedal steel maestro Zach Moulton, picking solo behind last year’s Faded Jackets EP. – Doug Freeman