David Ball – “Hot Water Pipe”

David Ball is such an effortless singer that he’s easy to take for granted, even for hard-core country fans like myself. In fact, he’d slipped my mind for quite some time. Great singers like Ball hardly get played on country radio anymore, but that‘s no testament to his talent. His last smash, 2001’s “Riding with Private Malone,” was a mere aberration in a career that’s featured just three top ten singles. Still, Ball’s voice is a once-in-a-blue-moon instrument, able to handle stone-cold country ballads and rousing uptempo numbers with equal aplomb. As the first track from his upcoming album Sparkle City, “Hot Water Pipe” crackles with a giddy energy that heats up next to Ball’s twangy tenor.

With “Hot Water Pipe,” Ball uses a gnarly guitar groove and his well-weathered vocals to build the sexual tension. Few singers could make pre-coital glee sound as pure and joyous. “Hot” is a major candidate to be the next Viagra commercial jingle; it’s a sly little ditty that marks lovemaking as a warming device. Modern-day Music Row would have hammered home the sexually-suggestive lyrics, but Ball keeps some of the mystery to himself.

Ball sings, “Now when that north wind comes down south/It takes a while for things to thaw out,” seeing the pleasures in staying put during the freezing winter days. Moving along to a Texas-style roadhouse groove, “Hot” is a simple, sharply-written tune that shoots right to the heart of American housewives without dumbing down its message. Ball has the be-all, end-all cure for cabin fever. When it comes to the colder temperature, one thing matters: “I hope it don’t freeze up my hot water pipe.”

“Hot” won’t trot up the Billboard charts any time soon, but Ball has turned in another fine, custom-made performance that shows his exceptional gift for neo-trad country music.

Listen: David Ball – “Hot Water Pipe”