QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "Gram Parsons thought he had Keith Richards' metabolism. He didn't. Gram really thought he was macho; that he could drink and do drugs and get laid and carry on indefinitely ? that he was not vulnerable. And he paid for it. Not only the good die young, I'd say in a lot of instances the dumb die young."- Phil Kaufman, road nanny to the stars.

SONG OF THE WEEK: “Sin City”- The Flying Burrito Brothers

I won’t go into the whole Gram story here, or just how huge his contributions were to not only the perpetuation of classic country grooves but modern alt.country, too- just Google his name, there are plenty of decent books and films that discuss those finer points- I guess I just wanted to say thanks to the squirrely ol’ boy for helping to lay the groundwork for so many bands and artists that make up my modern-day faves.

So yeah, maybe I do go on a bit about “alt.country,” “Americana” and “roots rock,” but like Gram, I hear the howl of Real America in the banjo plucks, pedal steel weeps an’ high lonesome guitars of Cosmic Cowboy music. So here’s another one on my short list of new shit that’s got that ol’ Parsons spirit rollin’ through it like a thick haze of dope smoke an’ the paranoid sweat of a guy who knows he’s about to punch his last ticket. A cat who knows deep in his guts that what he’s done so far is all he’ll be leavin’ behind ...

Frog Holler
Haywire
2006
ZoBirds Records

The hype for this record was so upbeat and comparative (Better than the Jayhawks? Damn, that’s a regular double-edged sword ain’t it? I mean, yeah it made me wanna hear the record, but it also put it up alongside one of my favorite bands of all time and made it really hard to wrap my head around the album an’ its’ true message) that I honestly had to listen to it four or five consecutive times to really dig into the band and not the hype.

That being said, Frog Holler is a damn talented outfit- they slay most of the obvious roots rock bogging down the alt.country charts (whatever the hell those are, anyway), display an amazing understanding of hook vs. substance, and absolutely play the shit outta a passel of instruments. Is their record comparable to The Jayhawks’ Smile, or even Sound Of Lies? Hell, no. It’s a completely different beast, and methinks if the band themselves had had a hand in writing the press release for Haywire, they’d not have used those ubiquitous Jayhawks comparisons quite so liberally- if at all.

Sure, some of this album is the very definition of “alt.country,” but then again there’s some straight-up pop, some gnashing rock n’ roll, some hill country pickin’ and some good old-fashioned “country and western” tucked into these here saddlebags, as well. Thing is, it took a whole posse of rough riders to rope this bronc an’ hold him down long enough to put their brand on him. But that’s nothin’ new to the Jayhawks, either- thing is, about the only comparisons I can really make between the two outfits is that they both were/are made up of members who actually love the same Cosmic Cowboy shit I do (ever seen Gary Louris just out on the town? I think they may actually have known Nudie, too ...) and that they obviously care more about sharing their music than “hitting the big time.”

So who makes up this rather large collective of like-minded musical souls? First mention has to go to singer/songwriter/guitarist Darren Schlappich, who wrote every single song on this album, and who, despite that PR kit comparison to the ‘Hawks, sounds vocally more like what might happen if you put Slim Dunlap, John Hiatt and Slobberbone front-man Brent Best’s voices in a cosmic blender fulla whiskey, rusty nails an’ hot sauce. Schlappich pens to-the-bone, from-the-gut lyrics about topics ranging from everyday life to barroom misery to handed-down family tales with all the same conviction and authenticity as predecessors Louris and Parsons do and did.

Joining Shlappich on this batch of barn-burners, honky-tonk ha’ants an’ bibulous breakdowns are fellow Reading, Penn., folks Todd Bartolo (lap steel, electric guitar, mandolin and vocals), Daniel Bower (drums, percussion and vocals), John Kilgore (electric and acoustic guitars, organ, electric piano and vocals), Mike Lardanski (banjo, harmony vocals, accordian, percussion), Josh Seeurman (bass), Amy Morrissey and Brian McTear on backing vocals, and Scott White on violin. Christ, I don’t think the Jayhawks have had quite that many members in all the years and configurations they’ve been around and through. But hell, it sounds great, so who cares?

So what about the songs? Not even remotely Jayhawks rip-offs (talk to Tom Petty guitarist Mike Campbell about that one!), and they all stand on their own as fine pieces of musical art. Lead track “Hades” took me a few spins to get into, but made perfect sense when I cranked ‘er up to eleven and really understood the power of the tune. Kickin’ off with chiming guitars, throbbing bass, and lush production, the tune fairly reeks of betrayal and gut-wrenching pain: “... how come there’s heaven for us/ Not ‘til we die/ Meanwhile, there’s Hades for us/ While we’re alive ...” I must’ve played this song sixty times in one afternoon and still ain’t tired of it. An absolute charmer of a tune, and one that must be played at full, shameless volume to fully appreciate.

“Pepper And Salt” is a melancholy, banjo-laden lope down memory lane with a sarcastic, wink-an-a-nod twist (“I’ve had this dream that when we die/ All the doors that been closed before/ Would open wide, able to see both sides/ Were peppered with insults/ It was taken with no salt ...”) “74" rolls out on tentative guitar pickin’, Schlappich matter-of-factly relating a tale of his lost youth: “Vacation at the lake back in ’74 ...” he recalls. “My father killed a snake with a rented oar because it threatened my mom asleep on the shore ...” As the tune lazily rides along, he goes deeper into the tale and the ramifications of those early days: “Today I went to the bank to cash a couple of checks/ The teller was suspicious and it has me upset/ She wanted second ID and I will never forget it ... My baby says, ‘You’re gonna have a heart attack/ You’re 37 years old/ You gotta learn to relax/ Just like when you were young ...’” Superb.

Other stand-outs include “On Winter Blues,” a pedal-steel-heavy, mid-tempo ballad with killer lines like, “Where does this come from baby?/ It’s like a lid on a stew/ Where does this come from/ Red hot on winter blues ...” The title cut, at first spare and filled with unnamed dread, soon morphs into another finely detailed piece of music, with lyrics that both hit home and remain an enigma. “Sight Unseen” travels down the same dusty, Byrds-ian trail as Son Volt, with a driving back-beat and tasty country tinges framing a bed of solid rock ‘n’ roll (is that cowbells I hear? More cowbells, cowboys!!), while the mandolin-laced “Ben Franklin’s Blues” steers us down Steve Earle Lane for a bit of healthy historical wallowin’: “... looking through bewildered glasses makes me want to try to see things new ... and living through the great deception makes me keep one eye wide awake/ When everyone’s tired...”

All in all, a powerful collection of cool, modern-country nuggets, ubiquitous pop hook-ery, and smart, satisfying lyrical content- Frog Holler ain’t no Jayhawks, but then, the Jayhawks weren’t no Flying Burrito Brothers, either. They’re all great on their own merits, and the fact that the ol’ Cosmic Cowboy vibe jes’ keeps a’ rollin’ on down them long twin rails just perpetuates that notion. This album, their fifth, doesn’t strike me as being up to their full potential- I suspect this outfit will eventually top this collection- but it beats the livin’ shit outta most of the predictable, dried-up country hoo-haw comin’ outta the “alt” market these days. Kudos to Frog Holler, and may the wind take your troubles away, boys ... Check out the band at FrogHoller.com.

That’s it for this time ‘round, gang. Tune in again next time out for more of the same. Until we meet again, make yer own damn news ...

If you have local music news/gigs/events/CDs you’d like to see mentioned in this space, or you’d just like to put some ting-tang in my walla-walla-bing-bang, send replies to: Tmygunn777@peoplepc.com