Much like his last release, 2021’s shamefully underrated Music City Joke, Mac Leaphart’s latest seems to capture him once again genuinely enjoying doing what he does. Not since John Prine has Americana had a musician that acts so casual and even surprised by their own brilliance. There is nothing forced or manufactured as Lephart reels through a dozen superb tracks on Motel Breakfast.
Humor and unpretentious are just as much of Leaphart’s musical makeup as is his blend of Honky Tonk and Rock n Roll. And those Prine influences are clearly not lost on him as he gives nods to the legend on “Belly Full of Peaches” (“No flag decals in heaven/Just love & love alone/John Prine’s Jesus, the one we all find on our own”). The album is crammed with colorful characters, from a musician on the road (“Rock & Roll Hey”) to a dive bar in Charlotte, North Carolina (“Ode to the Thirsty Beaver”), and Leaphart has Dylan’s knack for teasing out the details of each character slyly rather than spelling it out simply.