This little platter is a pure slab of old-timey Americana gold. The product of Sam Doores and Riley Downing & the Tumbleweeds chance encounter in 2010, these 12 tracks are a mix of each songwriter’s style, along with some revamped classics thrown in for good measure. “Wrong Time To Be Right” is one of the best hangover laments I’ve ever heard, while “I Got Found” is one of the best contemporary gospel tunes I’ve heard in years. The Doores’ penned “Cricket’s Creed” could easily have been written 100 years ago, and Riley’s “Throw Another Cap on the Fire” wouldn’t sound off place in one of America’s dwindling hobo jungles. The fact that this record sounds so downright, down home authentically old could come across hackneyed the way some roots acts who rely too heavily on pastiche often do. But Holy Cross Blues never does. This is the real deal. I expect to see them at the Folk Fest soon, and if not, well then someone is asleep at the wheel. (Dollartone Records, dollartone.com) Sheldon Birnie