About a year ago, we highlighted an amazing song and band called Highway 9. Mr. Reality was the original incarnation of this terrific and grossly underrated acoustic rock outfit. Their self-titled 1992 release is one of my favorite records of all-time. Filled with shimmering 12-string guitars and harmonies that would make The Eagles green with envy, Mr. Reality is one of the reasons I write this blog. Everyone should have heard of this band and it makes me weep that we never got to hear more from them (aside from their subsequent appearance as Highway 9, in which history repeated itself and unjustly ignored them once again). Their one and only album as Mr. Reality is filled with gems like "Anonymous," "Jess," "My Guns," and "Waiting For September."
This little-known band from New Jersey carries a torch for Bruce Springsteen but sounds more like The Eagles. They used to go by the name Samhill and Mr. Reality, the latter having made one of my favorite records of all-time. Stay tuned until we get to the M's for more on that album. Highway 9 released "What In Samhill?" in 2002, and it sounds like a proper follow-up, albeit somewhat inferior, to their work done as Mr. Reality. But tracks like "Tug Of War" below and "Between Your Eyes And Mine" and "Say You're Mine" are pure acoustic rock bliss. The band's trademark harmonies are terrific and I wish we would have heard much more from them.
