The appropriately named Greg Trooper is one of the foot soldiers of the Americana army. His rootsy songs have been covered by the likes of Steve Earle and Rosanne Cash in different campaigns, but he’s never going to make it to the rank of general. Yet serving in the ranks is a dignified profession, and Trooper at the very least deserves an honourable mention in dispatches for Floating, an album of fetching melodies and intelligent lyrics. And he should win a Purple Heart for “Muhammad Ali”?Earle claims in his sleevenotes that he’s already planning a cover version of the song.
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