Arlo McKinley Die Midwestern (CD)

(Oh Boy Records) 10 tracks, digisleeve

Coming out of the eclectic Cincinnati scene, Arlo McKinley has washed his songs in the blood of street soul, country, punk and gospel – and tattooed them onto the underground.

Filled with an honest weight and gritty-hope from rustbelt city life, McKinley rolled downriver to Memphis’ Sun Studio where Grammy Award-winning producer Matt Ross-Spang gathered a working man’s all-star band to record his Oh Boy Records debut, “Die Midwestern.”

McKinley’s 10 original songs bleed truth from a heart scarred by wild nights and redeemed by Sunday morning confessions. “She’s Always Around,” “Suicidal Saturday Night,” “Bag of Pills” and “Ghost” are all carved out in the key of life.

Humbly stacking piles of songs that hurt so good, McKinley has shared stages with John Moreland, Jason Isbell, Justin Townes Earle, Lucero, and contemporaries Tyler Childers, Ian Noe, and Colter Wall.