12.01.07 UNCUT Magazine (UK) STEPHEN SIMMONS | Something In Between Third album from grainy US warbler Beautiful as it often was, Simmons’ album from last year, Drink Ring Jesus was almost unremittingly bleak. Strung out over softly plucked acoustic guitar, Simmons’ songs flickered like dim bulbs in an empty church. Something In Between finds the Nashville man broadening the sound with mid-tempo rock (“Go Easy On Me”) and some classy country chug (“Cloudy In LA”), but mostly it’s gruff folk pickings in the vein of Steve Earle or Ray Wylie Hubbard. The great Al Perkins adds pedal steel to these sinister rumbles, acting as counterweight to Simmons’ dark tales of escape and despair. 12.01.06 UNCUT Magazine (UK) STEPHEN SIMMONS | Drink Ring Jesus (Rounder Europe) "Raised in a devout Christian household, Simmons’ songs mirror a struggle between faith and devilry – indeed, much of this fine record sounds like a long prayer in the dark. 2004’s “Last Call” was a full-band affair, but here he strips everything back to bare acoustic guitar and harmonica, his baked-in-clay voice owing as much to Kris Kristofferson and Guy Clark as it does Jeffery Foucault. “Devils Work Is Never Done” is, allegedly, already a favourite of Neil Young, while “Carpenter Skills” finds him adrift in a dusty wilderness. Vivid, intelligent and soulful." – Rob Hughes