Topcats singer, producer, and local music luminary Buzzy Beano takes a break from the covers game in his main band to give us a taste of his more Southern side on Between Hay and Grass, his first solo album. Not merely a country album, on Hay and Grass Buzzy evokes early-’70s country-rock with both accuracy and zeal. The majority of the album sounds like a jam session between the Eagles and any number of Neil Young’s projects (CSNY, Buffalo Springfield, et al.). This could have a lot to do with Beano’s spot-on vocal styling, which here fall somewhere between Young and Joe Walsh. Most projects like this may come off as tepid and dull, but Buzzy Beano pulls the sound off in spades, especially on the opening cuts “Love Leaves a Scar” and “C’mon & Let Me Love You.” Even the slower ballads like “I’ve Tried” and “If She Was Gone” kind of sound like what “Wild Horses” would have sounded like had the Stones gone all the way with the country sound, incorporating slide guitar and wailing pedal steel. (And there is a lot of it on this album.) You damn near expect the disc to come with a certificate of authenticity. But whereas most country excursions by rock veterans are ironic, tongue-in-cheek affairs (Ween, anyone?), Buzzy makes it evident in his passionate execution of each word and note that he loves this music as much as he does his work with the Topcats. That fact alone makes Between Hay and Grass that much more enjoyable.