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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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Bobby Bare, Jr.
Wednesday 26 March @ 10:56:39 |
 by Rob van Alstyne
Nashville’s glitzier side has been well documented throughout the years, so it’s easy to imagine Music City as little more than the stomping grounds of soulless songwriting mercenaries and prefab Faith Hill’s—the truth, however, is far different. Existing under the radar are a number of intriguing artists keeping country music’s proud heart beating with a decidedly anti-commercial and maverick attitude. Among that talented group is Bobby Bare Jr., the offspring and namesake of the late-’60s country star. Eschewing the traditional country style one might expect from his background, Bobby Bare Jr. first burst onto the national scene as part of a roaring rock ensemble, releasing two high-octane, deep-fried southern rock albums in the late ’90s on various major label subsidiaries.
Although nice enough albums in their own right, no one could have expected the level of excellence delivered by Bare’s proper solo debut, Young Criminals Starvation League. Turning the volume knob way down and enlisting the aid of several members from Lambchop (the official granddaddy of Nashville’s skewed rock collective, they’ve tackled Philly Soul and weepy country with equal irreverence over the years), Bare Jr.’s newest album is a bonafide alt. country revelation. The stripped down and simple acoustic songs draw their strength from Bare’s jovial, scratchy drawl and the consistently tasteful arrangements of his Lambchop collaborators.
The album feels like the result of weeks of rehearsal time and musical fine-tuning: “There was no plan at all,” claims Bare via telephone (proving my powers of critical perception woeful yet again). “I thought I was going to do a solo acoustic album kind of deal before doing another major label rock album thing, and people just kept showing up during the recording and it just got bigger. I had no idea it would turn out like it did. Everything we did on the record was recorded in seven days, every note. Most of the songs you hear on the record were recorded within about a half hour of me showing the song to the people in the room for the first time.”
These first-run classics consist primarily of oddball character study vignettes (“Flat Chested Girl From Maynardville,” “The Monk at the Disco”) and more straightforward tear-in-your-beer ditties (“I’ll Be Around,” “The Ending”), Bare Jr’s cockeyed country music songs simultaneously tickling the funnybone and tugging on the heartstrings of his listeners. Bare Jr. claims to be unconscious of his music’s comic possibilities. “I don’t know why but every heavy, really sad song I write ends up interpreted as funny by others,” says Bare. “I have a song called ‘Naked Albino Dancing in the Sun,’ and another one called ‘You Blew Me Off, It Turned Me On’ I get why some people assume the songs are funny just from the titles. To me though, if you can write your real feelings and get a room full of people to laugh along that’s a special thing. All the songs, even the silly ones, are written from real emotion. The idea is to embrace tradition with one hand and with equal effort try and destroy it with the other hand—to pervert and twist it, to see how far it can stretch before it breaks. To me that is where you get the more interesting stuff. I didn’t like this record for a long time because it just felt so naked.”
Having visited the world of indie rock while recording Young Criminals Starvation League for Chicago’s Bloodshot Records imprint (former home to enfant terrible Ryan Adams, among others), Bare Jr. seems decidedly unsure of his next step back into major label terrain. “With all the mergers and stuff that have happened now I’m not even sure what my official status is, I mean I’m pretty sure I still have health insurance somehow through one of these labels,” says Bare while stifling a chuckle. “I learned a lot making this record with Mark [Nevers, album producer and member of Lambchop]. When you record for a major label there’s all this pre-production kind of stuff going on and people watching over your shoulder. The major labels get you a producer, and their main job is to baby-sit the artist to ensure that they don’t do anything particularly interesting. Working with Mark was the opposite kind of experience. I know what a producer should do now.” When pressed further about his future plans, Bare Jr. dodges the issue deftly. “I don’t know what comes next, I can plan it out all I want but the truth is that I have no idea how the next record will be until I actually get into the studio to try and make it. That can be frustrating, but it’s a big part of the fun too.”
Bobby Bare Jr. plays Wed., Mar. 26, at the 400 Bar. With special guests. 9 p.m. $10. 21+. 400 Cedar Ave. S., Mpls. 612-332-2903.
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