Six Gun Sally has announced its third studio album, Ain’t Goin’ Down, arriving November 20, and with a title like that, an acoustic meditation retreat probably wasn’t in the cards.
The 11-track collection finds the Southern rock outfit mixing nine originals with covers of two songs carrying some fairly serious history: “Piece of My Heart” and The Allman Brothers’ “Ramblin’ Man.” Because if you’re going to borrow from the classics, apparently there’s no reason to start with the easy ones.
Led vocally by Aimee Jane Williams and Allen Granus, Six Gun Sally recorded Ain’t Goin’ Down with bandmates Jeff Yeckel, Dan Rach, Stan Brusoski, Billy G and Dave Barbe. Williams, Barbe, Jeff “Ford” Thurston and Matt Muckle contributed to the songwriting, with the record moving between the band’s harder Southern rock side and more restrained material.
The title track plants its flag firmly in the former camp, built around guitars, Western-flavored riffs and a refusal-to-quit message. Elsewhere, “I Won’t Stop Loving You” and “Stay” slow things down and give the band room to explore loyalty, relationships and heartbreak without completely unplugging the amplifiers.
Ain’t Goin’ Down also arrives after a substantial summer for Six Gun Sally. The band played 22 dates supporting Lynyrd Skynyrd and Foreigner on the Double Trouble Double Vision Tour, putting its particular brand of Southern and classic rock in front of considerably larger audiences.
For a band whose musical compass points toward the ’70s, Six Gun Sally isn’t treating the era like a museum exhibit. They’re borrowing the map, turning up the amps and seeing where the road still goes.
Ain’t Goin’ Down arrives November 20.
Information provided by Six Gun Sally’s publicity team.