As far as I can tell
country music has been co-opted by yuppies. So I’m pretty suspicious of
anything claiming to be country. Look, wrapping yourself in the flag as you
burn rubber in your pick up truck on the way to see some cookie-cutter cowboy
sing about his flag and his pick up truck, don’t make
you country, son… nor does it make the music country.
But thankfully
country music is being saved by the alt-country mavericks (popping up in the
least likely of places) and the long hairs. That’s right: the original boil on
society’s ass, pot-smokin’, draft-dodgin’,
middle-finger salutin’ long hairs. Like Shooter Jennings.
Jennings comes from legendary outlaw country stock and treats his
(seemingly) country music with the reverent hands of a southern rocker. Despite
the bloodline, Jennings clearly has his own agenda — “to put the ‘o’ back in
country.” Besides, to cop Waylon’s wail would’ve been passรฉ.
Jennings and his band unassumingly took the RIT stage last Friday
night and launched into their guitar-heavy southern rock — picture Skynyrd in its prime. It wasn’t country, it was rock… big
rock at that, with Jennings and his corduroy’d
guitarist trading off solos and generally getting the crowd of about 3000
worked up. They veered into the real country at one point with a nod to the
Possum when Jennings tagged the end of a tune with “He Stopped Loving Her
Today.” I think he was stoned. And there’s nothing quite like hearing a real
southerner cuss. Shee-it.
The Black Arrows are busy forging a new disc that has them a little more solidified in the
unique sound they’ve created. Not louder, not heavier, just bigger. They proved
it Saturday night at The Bug Jar with Tiger
Cried Beef and Buffalo’s Knife Crazy.
Tiger
Cried Beef on the other hand was louder
and heavier. Where’d this come from? The whimsical songwriting was still there
but these guys rocked harder than they have in the past. Very
cool. Their frenetic set made way for Knife Crazy’s spastic indie-rock. A little manic and hairpin.
It was certainly fun to watch.
This article appears in Mar 8-14, 2006.
