Americana Highways Rick Shea, Love & Desperation. Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Rick Shea, whose varied resume embraces work with Dave Alvin, Katy Moffatt, and Wanda Jackson, has a winner on his hands with his 12th album. Love & Desperation kicks off on a high note with Al Ferrier’s “Blues Stop Knockin’ at My Door,” an irresistible toe-tapper and the only number here that Shea didn’t write (or in a few cases, cowrite). Other standouts include the accordion-spiced “Big Rain Is Comin’ Mama,” the autobiographical title cut, and “The World’s Gone Crazy,” a bluesy number that the Southern California-based singer says came to him “after watching a particularly harrowing episode of The Rachel Maddow Show.”

Roots rocker Rick Shea has a brand new record out and it's another beauty. A mainstay of the Californian country, folk and honky tonk scene he's up there with the likes of Tom Russell and Dave Alvin a literate, melodic songsmith and a great guitarist. Chris Lee - UK Festival Promoter

a must, not only for anyone seeking a sublime set of songs, but for those whose notion of Americana has to ring of the real thing. – Lee Zimmerman, No Depression

Years from now writers will refer to this as “his career album.” In case I'm not around to do it, I'll just do it here. He's had a long and storied career and worked with music royalty in several genres, this feels like something The Band would have done early in their career.”
– Blll Lavery/Village Records

Bound for Trouble is a remixed and remastered version of Sawbones from 1999, including three new tracks.

"Sawbones" - AIM 1999/ Rereleased as "Bound for Trouble" Tres Pescadores 2006 Shea is to interior California what Joe Ely is to West Texas, two pinches of old Mexico, a blast of exhaust from the boss man's Suburban and a baseline of working stiff desperation…and the best goddamn country voice since Merle hisself. **** Four stars! Jackson Griffith/Pulse Magazine

Released in 1994. "The Buffalo Show" - 1995 ML …expert playing and songwriting…first rate…exquisite… Mike Boehm/LA Times …a powerful musical personality…Shea's best songs rank with anybody's best… Jim Washburn/OCWeekly …of all the people combining classic honky-tonk with conjunto, Shea has the best voice, top ten pick… Joel Bernstein/Country Standard Time